Chuunin of the Leaf
by dragonblade3200
Summary: Naruto, Hanabi, and Jakon have become chuunin, now read their story, know their legacy. Not HanabiXNaruto, Implied NarutoXHinata. Sequel to Genin of the Leaf. RRR Read Reveiw Repeat
1. Chapter 1 Start your engines

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything Naruto related except my ideas and if Kishimoto would use those ideas then I would be honored.

I would like to say this, there are thirty days in every month in the Narutoverse and 28 days in a moon cycle as usual.

Oh and before anyone says anything- just because I have a quote it doesn't imply anything HUGE, its just a quote and will stay that because I like quotes.

Like in Genin of the Leaf, I do not know Japanese, so any names I use will most likely be gibberish and have no meaning. And if a word does have a meaning I would like it if you could tell me what it means, just so I know.

* * *

_**Chuunin of the Leaf**_

"_Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.__"_ – Winston Churchill.

Naruto Uzumaki looked at the saying on his wall while he sat resting on a cushion, something new he had added to his small house, having loved the quotes from the western man so much that he had bought nearly two hundred wall hangings with such sayings on them. _'You have to make effort all the time in order to become stronger, just like I'm doing right now!'_ Though it didn't seem it now, Naruto was working harder than anyone else in the Leaf.

-----

Rock Lee and Guy ran with all their might, never slowing down, only getting faster, a little ways behind them was Jakon Orashi, a boy who's family jutsu's sucked all the pigment out of the body, leaving him with all white skin and hair like that of an albino's and bright red eyes. Farther behind him was Naruto, or rather several Naruto's, all of which where shadow clones. They all ran, following Lee's usual routine of training, which involved waking at dawn, doing 300 push-ups, jumping rope for ten minutes, 200 crunches and 200 sit-ups, running ten miles (which they were doing now), followed by sparring, kicking a strong log 1000 times or until it broke, punching a tree 500 times with each hand, sparring with weights, then ending with another ten mile hike, that one while wearing 100 pounds more in weights.

The leading Naruto, who was a good thirty feet behind Jakon, wondered how they could do it, though he kept going, until he finally landed face down in the mud, going up in a puff of smoke, the others going where he could not.

-----

Tenten, the young girl wearing baggy pants and a pink shirt that zipped shut on her right side and her hair still in two buns, threw kunai after kunai and shuriken after shuriken, hitting her target every time. Then she turned and watched as her 'student' for the day practiced with his kunai and shuriken throwing, "Good! Now you know the basics, that's to be expected, so the warm-ups are over. See the tree over there? Your going to hit that, like so." And she threw a Kunai, kitting a tree that was easily a hundred meters away.

"Tenten, I don't know what kind of training Guy puts you through, but I couldn't do that if my life depended on it."

"Pffft! You will never know if you don't try… fine, will you do as I ask if I show you my new invention?"

This caught Naruto's attention, "Sure!" though he knew that he could hit the target, it was just a matter of taking his time and taking careful aim, unlike the hasty Tenten.

The girl pulled out what looked like a ball and threw it away, taking cover after she threw it, then there was an explosion and she looked up, seeing the crater that the explosive had made, but Naruto was gone, a puff of smoke and a single piece of metal in his place, "Opps! I forgot to tell him to get down. Looks like a fragment of shrapnel hit him somewhere… hey that's a great name, a 'Frag!'" She had forgotten Naruto for the moment and the practice that she had agreed to in order to help him with his throwing skills, "But it seems a little incomplete, needs something more, can't just call it a frag, Hmm…

-----

Hinata and another Naruto clone sat in the Hyuga complex's garden, their backs against a great tree that had been grown by the first Hokage himself, clearing their minds and concentrating on a problem that had been on their minds recently. It was during times like this that Hinata couldn't help but be at her calmest and happiest. She opened her eyes eventually, looking at the nearly unmoving Naruto, his head lowered, shoulders relaxed completely, and drool coming from the corner of his mouth…

Hinata looked at him a second longer before realizing he was asleep. She crawled over to him, a grin on her face, and wiped his mouth clean and snuggled close to him, his arm coming up automatically around the girl who he had grown so close to and so fond of in the past four months since Chuunin exams ended. _'This happens every time we try to train together!'_ she thought to herself, snuggling in closer.

-----

Hanabi and Naruto sparred, a fierce session that any spectator would assume was a full on fight to the death, Hanabi's mind racing as the two traded blows, _'Dodge, duck, thrust, follow through with a kick, bock, pull out a kunai, jump, parry, thrust, stab, bring up, go onto my back, kick with both feet, do a flip backwards, parry, parry, punch, thrust, kick, substitution jutsu!_' And with that last thought she did the seals and went up in smoke, doing a substitution with the air behind his back (The strange Puff thingy the sensei always do), sliding her hands under the sleeves of her long battle cloaks, she made some hand signs and attacked him from behind, making the clone disappear, never knowing what attack she had used. "DAMMIT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "it still isn't doing what I want it to do! AHHH! Where's that scroll?" she started to search through her bag for one of the scrolls that she had been teaching herself from.

-----

Shikamaru and Naruto sat across from each other, playing a game of shougi, it was Naruto's turn and he was looking at every move he could see. Finally he moved a piece and looked at Shikamaru in a triumphant way. Shikamaru glanced down and moved a piece, "You lose Naruto, now hand it over!" with that Naruto pulled out a deflating frog pouch, giving Shikamaru his winnings. Then the Chuunin with the pineapple hairdo turned to his side and looked at the second game he was playing making a move that sent the next Naruto looking for any possible way out of his predicament. "So Naruto, have you even taken that thing off yet?" he asked, referring to the chuunin vest Naruto wore.

Indeed Naruto had taken to wearing the vest, along with a pair of black pants, a strip of matching green going down the legs, extra holders on them for scrolls and the such. Naruto put a big grin on his face, his hands now behind his head, "Hehe, nope! Been washing with this baby ON for the past four months!"

Shikamaru just put his hand on his head as he got up, throwing Naruto his money back, "Naruto… I give up!" Naruto just made a 'v' for victory at his winning bluff.

-----

Yamato and Naruto both looked down at the scene that was unfolding below them, both standing on pieces of ground raised up by Yamato. Farther below, in a wooded area just outside of Konoha, there where roughly fifty shadow clone Naruto's, each transformed to look like someone different, participating in a mock battle. Naruto was in command of eleven of these clones, who looked like a different member of the Konoha eleven, himself included.

"Excellent strategy Naruto, now what if the enemy was coming at you like this?" he said having his Mokuton clone giving out orders to the clones below that it was in charge of, the heads of each four man squad of 'enemy' clones looking like Sasuke, Orochimaru, Kabuto, or a member of Akatsuki.

"I would have Shikamaru hold as many of them back for as long as possible, with Lee, Neji, Hinata, Tenten, Akamaru, and Kiba helping him. Ino would take control of them one at a time, trying to cause infighting among them. And Shino would be calling his bugs to crawl over them, in numbers that they wouldn't notice, being too distracted from the fighting. Mean while me, Choji, and Sakura would be setting traps that can only be set off by us and getting to the best positions, that way the others could retreat, luring the enemy into false security and rushing in. Then I would have Sakura hit the ground, either trapping the enemy or scattering them, in which case me and Choji will set off the traps we used, and engaging any enemy that gets out in combat, the others splitting up to help either me, Choji, or Sakura. From there we should be able to handle the rest… Well, except for the leaders, the guys you picked would be impossible for even YOU to fight!" he added the last part as a little joke.

"Ok, then how do you deal with this." And he made a single hand seal, sending Naruto's platform back into the earth, the clone disappearing with a poof as it hit the ground, and with another set of seals raised it back up, "Hmmm, HEY, Sasuke, get back up here and take over for this guy!" and the shadow clone turned into Naruto again, his team disappeared, and he ran up the side of the raised earth, "Oh, and not more stupid remarks, ok?" The clone just saluted him in a goofy way, _'Well that's a start._'

-----

**BAM!** Sakura punched the ground, putting her all into the hit. Cracks formed, the ground began to shift, and finally it broke apart, leaving a crater about six meters across on every side, the pink haired kunoichi in the middle. She looked over the edge at Naruto, who was wide eyed as usual when he saw her do that, and she gave him a cute little smile and said in the meekest voice she could muster up, "Your turn!"

She jumped out of the pit she had made and watched as he stored his chakra up in his hand and arm and hit the ground as hard as he could, releasing it all at once. The result, a decent sized imprint where his hand hit the ground and the clone rolling on the ground, its knuckles broken from the force it had hit the ground with, "ow ow ow ow ow ow ow OOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!"

The Hokage's apprentice just grabbed him by the arm with her hands, yanked up the hand in question and started to heal it, fixing the bone so soon after and accident was easy for her, she was an expert, "COME ON!" she yelled, "AGAIN! I had to go through the same thing when I learned this stuff and I didn't have nearly as much chakra or stamina as you do! Now you asked me to teach this to you so get up and learn, we ain't stopping until night falls!" This Naruto wished he could have had the easy routine with Lee and Guy instead.

-----

A dog scrunched up its large nose, smelling the air, and gave a small growl back to the two people that walked with it, both keeping their eyes open, looking around, "Akamaru says he can smell that the herd moved through here about a minute before we showed up, come on, lets get that thing before it gets away!" and the picked up their pace, running now as they followed the dog.

Finally they broke though into the clearing they sought, a group of fifteen to twenty deer all grazing. Though they looked up they did not bolt, they were used to human presences. The group of three walked among the deer to a women who looked at them all, surprised that they had found her there, "You know this place is supposed to be for those of clan Nara only?" but she saw the dog and knew that they had been sent from the village, "So which one of those pineapple headed idiots sent you to find me?"

"The older one," said Kiba quite cheerfully, "he said that you would need to get some more antler for the Akimichi clans new pill, and that they are offering money for this delivery instead of food. He also said that you can just make Shikamaru process and deliver it all instead of doing it yourself."

"Well he DOES have the day off today." Said Naruto's clone with a smile, happy to make the lazy shinobi do some work for once.

"Well so do you too, so you can come help me with this and send it straight to him!" she said, giving the two boys an evil smile.

'_Now I can see why both of them are afraid of her!'_ thought Naruto, remembering the horror stories from Shikamaru about his mom, "Hey would you look at that, we have a chance to practice our air substitution jutsu's!"

And the two made the signs, sending the three figures up in smoke, only to appear with the women already behind them, "Nice try, but if I can catch those two then I will have no problem with you guys, now start working!"

-----

A Naruto clone stood directly across from Kurenai, looking each other in the eyes, "Come on Naruto, you need to concentrate… good, good… okay, now break the jutsu… no, break it, make your chakra stop moving… excellent work Naruto!" said the red eyed kunoichi who was looking past him now, trying to see a group of Naruto's that all stood behind him.

"Relax Kurenai-sensei," said Naruto, following the older women's gaze, "they'll be ok! They have me looking after them after all!"

The women just shot him a death glare, "For your sake, Naruto, they better be and you better start picking this up faster, they need a nap at around noon." The women couldn't wait for their session to be over so she could get back to her twins, a girl named Takara and a boy named Oboe, both of whom where a mere month old and surrounded by Naruto clones that tried to entertain the kids, or at least not make them cry. This had been the first time that Kurenai had let them come out like this, enjoying the fresh air, while she helped train Naruto.

She looked at the boy again, placing him in one of her genjutsu, letting him see what would happen to anyone who endangered her kids… Naruto was scared.

-----

Out in the middle of the woods, Naruto was bent over a log, inspecting it for strange bugs, somewhere around him was Shino, who had no problem finding new creatures to study. Finally Naruto found one, a pair of them actually. He picked them up and ran towards where he had last seen Shino, who was still standing over his first log, in deep talks with the insects, becoming one with them, "Hey Shino! I found some new ones!" yelled the newer Chuunin.

Shino looked over at him and held out one hand, "One at a time please Naruto, I want to make sure I know what kind they are." So Naruto handed him the first one, which he turned his hand and let fall off, "That was a piece of dirt and the next one?" This time Shino looked at it a little while longer, but he spoke eventually, "You killed it… It was a very rare breed of insect, and you killed it the second you skin's oils touched it… You killed it…" Naruto was unsure of what the boy would do, and he was to scared to find out, as the clone soon dispelled itself.

-----

Naruto was with Ino in her families flower show, looking at the different plants they kept behind the counter. Ino was currently talking about one of her favorite flowers, "… the red and the black make it seem so mysterious and to top it all off, it's a key ingredient in powerful poisons. Heck if you where to eat the flower you would be dead in three days, but when you refine it with this one and this one," she pointed to two other plants, keeping her eyes glued to the red and black pedaled plant, "it will act even faster, probably giving you a day to live. So… are you listening?"

"Yes," he said half truthfully, "your favorite flower can kill you in three days." This earned him a smack to the back of the head.

"WRONG! It is not my favorite and it can kill you in less than three days if you use it right. Now this one…" Naruto had just wanted to know about more about the different edible and poisonous plants, not getting a one on one with which ones Ino liked most.

-----

Naruto watched as Choji lifted the weights, adding more and more for him to lift, "300 sounds good for me, so how much do you want?"

Naruto just looked at the set of weights, Choji would be lifting over 300 pounds over his head, Naruto could almost lift 150, which was a considerable amount, seeing as most shinobi were meant to stay slim and wiry, "Give me 100." That wasn't nearly enough to be compared to Choji, though he just wondered how long he could go at it with 100 pounds. Naruto just watched Choji at first, lifting the weights above his head, squatting down, lowering the weights to his chest, and doing another squat. He repeated that ten times before Naruto even did one, _'Ino would take back everything she ever said about him if he saw this.'_ He thought to himself, not knowing that she had seen this and had, to herself at least, taken back the bad things she had said.

-----

Naruto jumped up, dodging the spear of ice that was thrust at him from nearly point blank range, fast enough to not receive a cold death. Lyn moved her arms with every motion, having lost some of her ability since having the five-tails cut off from her, and sent ice at him in waves of jagged spikes. Sticking to one of the trees that covered the hill, a giant waterfall coming out of nowhere, and a bridge going across it, he leapt at the girl, who simply brought up a barrier of ice, which the clone slipped along, landing in the ever growing lake at the bottom of the falls, having tripled in size in the past two months alone.

As the clone was going down it caught a glance of another clone on the wooden bridge, making hand seals with Kakashi, "Faster! Hurry up Naruto, you remember how fast Itachi was with his hand seals, well when I fought him he was able to create shadow clones while making one of the clones explode and pull out three shuriken, and I was barely able to see the movements with my Sharingan, something you don't have the luxury of!"

Still working his hands as fast as he could, Naruto said to the one eyed man, "But Itachi's dead, I killed him already!"

"But what about the others in Akatsuki?" asked the man, drilling Naruto, "What about Orochimaru? He has the Sharingan now, he has Sasuke's body, in addition he holds complete control over the curse seal. What about Danzou and the rest of Root, you think that there aren't exceptional warriors among them?" he took Naruto's hands, which had fallen idle and pushed them out again, starting him on the seals again, "You think you're the best, but the people who you have compared yourself to have almost all been from the Hidden Leaf. The Stone Village has warrior with endurance beyond anything I have seen. The Cloud Village has the fastest men and women in the world, people who would put Lee, Guy, and Itachi to shame. The Grass has shinobi with the most unusual abilities, the element of surprise being their ally till the last man has shown his all, in battle and out. The rain has the best marksmen that have ever been known. You are just one out of a million, an exceptional one, but one none the less. Now faster! I have learned over 1000 jutsu, well its time I started to share some of them, and as soon as your fast enough as I see fit I will start to teach them to you." _'You must be strong Naruto, we all need you to be strong!'_

In the lake below there where at least twenty clones, some doing stretches on the water and others meditating while holding themselves afloat. Two of them where right by the water fall, "Come on, I have done it, now its your turn!" said one clone.

"I don't know? Why don't you just disappear and let me see if you really did?"

"Tsk, because then you would have already have done it too, what would be the point in trying to meditate under the waterfall if you already know you can, where's the excitement?"

"Fine! But I'm warning you!" and one of the clones began to crawl under the water fall while holding himself above the water level. As soon as most of his back was submerged in the falling water the clone went under from the force.

"Well then," said the remaining clone, "I guess you CAN'T meditate under a waterfall!" and he began to walk away, only to be hit by another clone, falling from his fight with Lyn, submerging them both and causing hundreds of little bubbles to surface when they blew up.

-----

Sai sat in the Konoha library, a place where he could find peace and quiet, to read up on people and personality, which he had given up for the most part except as a hobby, or to draw the beautiful interior of the building, which had a large tree going up and straight through the room which had been built around the tree grown by the first, and still maintained by a member of the ANBU black ops who had seemed to share the first's gift. Today he was doing a drawing that most people would think weird if they simple saw the picture, but next to the real thing it was quite normal. The interior of the building, bustling with people, or rather a person, just many of that person: Naruto (Who'd a thunk it?).

Naruto's scurried around, looking for scrolls that he may find something interesting in, though not reading them all the way through, all of the clones doing that would cause the mental strain upon the clones disappearance to be terrible. A decent sized pile had formed, all of them for Sai to take back to Naruto's house when they would all head out to dinner tonight, as had become tradition with Naruto's biweekly mass clone training.

Sai finished up his sketch and looked up at the Naruto's, a group of three something around. Getting up Sai went and saw what they were chasing, one of the books. This book, it seemed, was sealed by the creator so only he could read what was inside it and now it was running away from Naruto, who was either going to kill it or read it. Putting his hand on his head, cursing himself for what he was about to do, Sai put on a smile and started to chase after the book as well. It took them an hour to catch it.

-----

Neji stood with several clones in a windowless room, the temperature nearly freezing. Neji looked at the clones, who seemed ready to pass out from the sight of what they were doing. Neji had brought Naruto to a section of the Konoha Hospital where autopsies were performed and shinobi could study the bodies of men and women who donated themselves after death. This was one of the rooms used by ANBU, jounin, and medic nin to learn of the bodies, though Naruto felt he may never be any of those things after today.

"Naruto… Naruto look at it… NOW! Good, now you see his spine, each of the vertebra can be hit to do different degree of damage or paralyze. Not if you where to hit this one with enough force you can take a man down for the rest of his life. Here," he said, feeling the spot on Naruto's back so he could understand better, "Now we're going to remove the spine totally so… Naruto… Naruto?" the clones had passed out and where no longer there.

-----

Naruto sat on a cushion in his house, taking in all of this information in stride, while things much larger than him began to move in greater force than ever before. For it was at this time that Hiashi was walking down the hall of his home to meet with his daughter in the gardens of the complex. Up ahead of him was a man, seemingly waiting for someone. When Hiashi was close enough the two great Hyuga meet eye to eye, Hiashi Hyuga and Forsu Hyuga.

Bowing down, overly low in mock loyalty, Forsu greeted his superior, "Lord Hiashi, it is a pleasure to come across you on this day, though there is still so much left unresolved in the counsel of the Elder Hyuga, such things as the Law of Lord Hyuga. Would you please tell me once more, what does the law say." His eyes had suspicion in them now, his voice just a hint of spite.

"Very well cousin," he said, not letting any emotions through, "since you cannot remember such a simple thing. The Law of Lord Hyuga states that when there is more than one heir to the title of clan head, they shall wage war. Only on the eve of the full moon shall the heirs to the clan fight, using no kunai or power that is not of the Hyuga, until one is lost in body, spirit, or energy." Hiashi ended it at that.

"There is more to it I believe?" he asked, knowing the answer already, "Yes, I believe that the last part was something along the lines of, none shall know of my law, let it be heir apparent or Lord to which the Clan may serve. Yes I believe that was part of it as well. Though a strange thing has been happening, on the eve of the full moon for the past four months, the heirs to the Hyuga clan have been on missions. Now we cannot ask the Hokage not to send them, she would question us and that might break the Law, and we cannot have the two fight on a night other than that of the full moon, that too would break the Law." He looked at Hiashi now, his eyes full of hate, "Now what would be the chance of the Hokage sending them on missions during the full moon this month Hiashi?"

"Are you trying to imply something-"

"You _know_ what I am talking about Hiashi! You have broken the Law, I know you have, and as soon as I have the proof I will make sure that the other elders know of it!" the man now had his hand pointed straight at Hiashi's heart, a killing blow if he had struck out at him.

"Forsu, my young friend," he said, grabbing the mans fingers and turning them, as well as his whole hand, "you make accusations that could destroy this clan from civil war! You should be more careful." And he began to walk once more, "Oh, and Forsu, I AM Lord Hyuga! Remember that before you make an enemy of me!" and soon he was in the garden, never seeing Hinata destroy the clone so the two of them wouldn't be seen together as they were.

"Tsk, Tsk! He really needs to learn his place in the world, doesn't he brother?" said Ophelia, coming from seemingly nowhere, "Well once Hinata is in power we will have enough support in the counsel to change the clan in our way."

"Yes, you will join the main house where you should be and Danzou will have a clan undivided to aid in the building of the empire."

-----

They where not the only ones preparing their plans to come to fruit. Orochimaru himself couldn't help but feel happy, something he had not done since hearing about the death of Sasori, his former teammate from Akatsuki. He was moving quite capably by himself, training for the first time in almost a year as he walked by himself to the Sound. Sasuke was not dead, but when Orochimaru had control over the body they shared he had actual control, not the shaking and weakness there had been before. Sasuke was no less a part of the snake ninja than he had been before, but Orochimaru had only recently begun to steady his own hand, fight with his own sword, and walk by himself.

There were complications still: There where times when his 'split personality' would come out, taking perfect control over the body for different periods of time. There was the whispering of the Uchiha in his head, night and day, trying to corrode away Orochimaru's will and if he gave in for one second then he would be lost to the Uchiha. Orochimaru also could not use either the Curse Seal or the Sharingan without Sasuke taking over the body fully. But the seal would soon require him to lose his chakra and Sasuke couldn't keep the Sharingan activated night and day when he had taken over. The most disturbing part for Orochimaru was the fact that Sasuke's will would be too strong for him when it came to certain things, such as placing his own face over Sasuke's or trying to write out and use Sasuke's jutsu, specifically the Chidori and its children jutsu. These things where Sasuke's and he made that know to all.

None the less Orochimaru had the body he wanted and in time, he was sure, he would get the Sharingan and seal he wished to have power over as well. Until then though he would call for Kabuto and set out, they had been too long in one spot and needed to move. One thing that Sasuke HAD done for the man was give him time to think, think about what they would do next, what new experiments he might try, and what Orochimaru would leave behind should the unthinkable happen. He had decided that he would live forever, no matter what way that would be: either through true immortality and godhood, which he would never give up his dream of doing, or through the legacy he left behind, which he had started to do.

'_Sasuke-kun… your listening to me, I know you are, but even if you take over my body today I will still live on. Kabuto is in the North Base, gathering notes on every experiment we have ever done, what we plan to do, and all of our dirty little secrets. Soon his experiment will be over too! And with that no one will ever be able to stop the Sound, not even you!'_

'_**Kukukuku… No, I wouldn't, but then if I took over I would be the one to lead the Sound. You took everything from me, so it wouldn't be THAT bad of a trade off. Kukukukuku, your pathetic, true immortality is only in what you leave behind, but who will read the notes of an outcasted necromancer like you? People remember the emperors and leaders of the great nations, not the priests and Living 'Gods' that maniacs insist they are. kukukukuku.' **_

The only part of that that scared Orochimaru was that he knew it true in his heart, _'An empire, eh? That doesn't sound that bad.'_ Sasuke knew at that moment: this little man was his to use as he saw fit. And he too began to plan his return, with all the power of the Sound and Orochimaru as his call he could do anything he wanted. He just waited though, all back of the bus like, as some might say.

-----

The clones where gone and evening was closing in on the Village Hidden in the Leaf. "MORE STEAK!" Choji and Sakura both raised their plates up for the servers to see, "Well she has a healthy appetite!" Whispered Shikamaru to Naruto at his side, Hinata, who was next to Naruto as well, just laughed along with the two boys.

They where all gathered, sitting around a giant table in a diner that had often been frequented by Team Asuma, now a frequent gathering spot for the large group of Chuunin and Jounin , Kurenai being the only one missing recently, sitting as such: Choji (who had declared an eating contest to any takers), Ino (Who looked at Sakura in disgust), Sakura (Who had decided to accept the challenge since Choji was paying), Sai (who barely touched his second stake, let alone finish his first plate), Hanabi (Who, as usual, seemed wide eyed because she was around Kakashi, one of the greatest Shinobi ever (she didn't get over that)), Kiba (Who was disqualified for getting help from Akamaru), Akamaru (Who was getting stroked by Hinata while eating off Kiba's plate), Hinata (Who had barely touched one steak after seeing them eat), Naruto (Who had an arm around Hinata while talking to Shikamaru, not eating), Shikamaru (Who figured it was too troublesome not to come, yet too troublesome to join in on the contests that where often held), Lyn (Who just stared in awe at Sakura), Shino (Who had picked up the steaks and placed it inside his jacket for the bugs to eat), Neji (Who never ate after helping Naruto in one particular field of study), Tenten (Who had given up after the first plate and nearly throwing up), Yamato (Who was a Vega), Kakashi (who had an empty plate in front of him, never having taken his mask off that anyone had seen), Guy (Who was cheering on the competitors), Lee (who was mowing through his second plate while trying to catch up to the others), Jakon (Who was over full as it was), followed by Choji once more who was half in second place now, halfway though his third plate of steaks.

They all talked merrily, about what missions they had been on, different training routines, what had happened during the day, and any new gossip they had heard. This went on until about eleven o'clock, when they were kicked out as usual. They all went their different ways for the most part, Hinata, Naruto (his arm around her and vice versa), Hanabi, Neji, and Jakon all walked together. The youngest two of the group had become more comfortable around each other again, though they didn't have thoughts any serious thoughts about being 'in love' still. When they got to the Hyuga manor they all went in and sat in the garden together, talking more.

The party was a happy one, a party that kept the eyes in the Hyuga complex away from Hiashi as he snuck out to the Hokage's tower.

-----

Hiashi lived for the Hyuga clan, but he also lived for his daughters and thy would come first in all things. Never once had he made mention of the law, but he had done what he felt he must, the same thing that he would do tonight as he had four times before in order to ensure that at least one of the girls was on a mission outside of the village during the full moon. The full moon that would be coming in seven days.

As Hiashi walked up to the tower he turned his Byakugan on, making sure there was no one following him and that his business went unnoticed, as it should. Looking around for at least four hundred feet, which was his maximum range, he saw the people moving in the tower and others who wandered by it, getting to the places they where going at this late hour, for Konoha never sleeps, there are always people to be seen and no one is ever truly alone.

Inside the building he goes up a flight of stairs, then another, and another, finally knocking on the door at the top, getting a yell from Tsunade. The Hokage's tower is given that name for it is where the Hokage works AND lives, unless they have a family like the first and second Hokage.

Stumbling to the door, Tsunade opened it, a little worse for ware, but over all presentable and more importantly awake, "What is it, is the village under attack?"

"No-" the door was slammed in his face. Knocking again, Tsunade opened the door, her other hand on her head, over the diamond shaped seal on her head, "Hokage-sama, I must speak with you, perhaps if you had something to drink you would feel more awake."

"Good idea." Said the women, half asleep still. She motioned for him to come into the messed up house, clothing thrown about and one wall with a hole in it where the woman had lost her temper and a card game, solitaire. She walked into the kitchen area of the apartment which, when cleaned up, would be quite roomy, and she pulled out a bottle of whisky.

Taking a quick mouthful of the stuff she turned back to Hiashi, offering him the bottle, "No, thank you." He waited until she put the bottle back before talking, "My Lady, I have recently been contracting some request for Shinobi, normally sent to the Hyuga's directly, through the village. You have been very kind in sending my daughters on these missions for me, but the elders has decided that I have given too many jobs to the Leaf and we must take more to increase the wealth of the Hyuga." This much was true, he had given many jobs that would have been for the Hyuga alone to the Leaf, telling the elders of the clan that it would help to strengthen the village and Hyuga bonds within the village. He had not told them of the part of the deal involving his daughter

"Well all good things come to an end. I filled your request to have Hyuga who would normally do these tasks to do them still, including your daughters, but I do believe you woke me up for something more, yes?"

"Yes," he said, not wishing to reveal too much, his Byakugan still activated, "I would like to test my daughters further, I want you to send them o a mission, one that will be long and will test them to their limit." He lied, but he did it for a good cause.

Tsunade didn't know why he was doing this, why he had his Byakugan on, or why she was still awake, but she processed it all slowly, "Hinata I cannot do this for until her team gets back from a reconnaissance mission she will be leaving for tomorrow, but I may be able to find something for Hanabi, but why? Why do this, I'm sure that the Hyuga are more then capable of testing their young-"

"No, it must be this way Tsunade-sama. Please, do this for me."

The woman looked at him, his composure would have seemed perfect to any one who did not know him, but to Tsunade he was disheveled and frantic, there was something wrong, "Very well Hiashi. You should know that I would do anything for you and the Hyuga… I take it you would prefer for this to be kept silent, hence you keeping your Byakugan on, and I will honor that if you ask it."

The man seemed relieved at this, "I would thank you very much Tsunade-sama. I must be going now, I do hope you find something for Hanabi soon, before weeks end if you could."

"Very well." She said as the man left, not knowing if he heard a word of it. Soon however she was off to sleep again, not waking until around seven, _'Shit, I should have started on my paper work already… I would think living above your office would give you time to sleep in.'_ but it didn't and soon she was up, dressed and in her office, looking through what new requests had been made. It was a little while after giving Hinata, Kiba, and Shino the briefing on their mission that she received the first of the four birds.

They were from spies hidden in other countries, the first from the Cloud Country read: 'a small group sent to the Village of Mind, had been found out to be spies, though they carried nothing that indicated their village or anything relating them to a country, the group of three had been tried and hanged on the walls of the village where they where spying.'

While the man did not say anything that would incriminate himself it was clear, her three man cell who had been sent there to gather information on the village had been found and killed. The part that made this burn the most was that they had only been able to send one relay, two months ago, simply saying that they have found someone, a missing nin from the Leaf, though the name was not sent. She would need to come up with a new strategy, conventional spies had proven unsuccessful, from her or from the Mizukage.

She received two others like that first one, the teams she had sent had been found and killed. The other two teams had been no more successful in gathering information on the villages as the first had, merely a drawing of the villages and talk about some of what they saw, but little else. She was considering bringing on a ANBU black ops team when the forth bird came, this one sent from the team that had been in village of Mind, _'No, the Village Hidden in the Mind. They are more of a danger than we thought… Oh My!'_

The letter was strange, yet to Tsunade it made perfect sense: 'Three have sprung, two with roots of their own, the other taking the Roots from within the Mind of another land. Though two may have grown from their own their roots have become intertwined with those of the last, there is one in the third who no longer faces Towards the Sun.'

Tsunade couldn't believe it, the message was too much, both good and bad. When you understood the double meanings of things like she did it was quite easy to understand. She quickly called for the Village Elders and her two apprentices, all of whom arrived around the same time. Gathering around her desk they read the letter in turn, then they translated it out loud for each other, so they would all know what it meant.

"'Three have sprung,' clearly the three new villages, Rose, Fist, and Mind." Said Tsunade, holding the letter as Shizune wrote down what was said, "'Two have sprung with roots of their own,' two of the villages have been formed on their own, no outside aid from any enemy we or they knew about. 'the other taking the Roots from within the Mind of another land.' The Village hidden in the Mind though was formed with the help of Danzou and the remaining members of Root, you can tell from how he capitalizes the word Root, it's a name not just a metaphor."

"Tsunade…" began the female of the two elders in the room.

"Wait until I have told you everything elder, I wish for you to know what I think before you pass judgment." The women gave a reluctant nod before letting Tsunade go on, "'Though two may have grown from their own, their roots have become intertwined with those of the last,' The two villages that where not aided by Danzou have become deeply involved with the Mind, many bonds, just like roots. 'there is one in the third who no longer faces Towards the Sun.' This last part took a second for me but I know what it means, they had found a Hyuga there. Hyuga means 'towards the sun,' so one who no longer looks towards the sun would be a Hyuga, one who has betrayed the village and the clan."

"Tsunade," began the old woman once more, "we know that you have no love fro Danzou and his Philosophies, but this is impossible. There is no proof that Danzou has done anything yet, nothing besides what you are getting out of this letter."

"Further more," said her male counterpart, "Why would any of the Hyuga betray the clan? It just hasn't happened, not in a very long time. The last time anyone of the clan betrayed the clan was when WE were still genin, the man would be ten, twenty years older than us, no man is immortal and this man would be dead if the Hunter nin have not found him yet." The two elders stood up now and the old man put his hand on her shoulder, "You need to relax, There is nothing to be worried about quite yet. We have Danzou under watch just in case all the same."

"If it makes you feel safer then you may send teams, any teams you think able enough, to look further into the allegations of the letter. But please do not obsess so." And with that the two elders left, barely believing a word that had come out of her mouth.

"Damn it." She said quietly, "Damn it Shizune, what are we going to do?"

The younger woman looked at her, then spoke, "Well for starters we're going to get together three teams and send them to the villages, this time not as just spies, but as open ambassadors."

Tsunade looked at the women with a smile on her face, "I don't know if I should make a wager against or for the idea of them succeeding, I have no idea which way things are turning. Sakura, get team Guy, team Nara, and team Uzumaki in here."

"Which team Uzumaki?" asked the pink haired kunoichi.

"Kakashi, Naruto, Jakon, Hanabi, and yourself, Yamato will need to stay in the village to keep an eye on Lyn, and Sai has been doing some work for me recently and will be able to keep Yamato company while your all away… Oh and send for Anko as well, we will need three team captains and one of with must be female."

Shizune waited for orders but they did not come, soon Tsunade looked at her, "Shizune, I love you. You are the sister that Dan has given me, and you are like a daughter to me. I want you to know this, should anything happen to me you are my-"

"Stop it!" said the younger women, looking a little upset at the woman's words, "Nothing will happen to you and I am not your daughter, I'm your friend and, yes because of Dan, sister. So here's a little sisterly advice: stop sounding so pessimistic. We all need you to be strong, so please, do it for me too, _I_ need you to be strong too."

Tsunade stood up and stretched out her arms, "Well bitch," she said teasingly, getting a little smile out of the younger girl, "I guess your right. Either way your going to be my Sixth, in case anything happens you're the one I trust most to do this. It wouldn't do Kakashi or the village any good having him stuck behind a desk all day and there is no way I'm putting Naruto in here yet and I'm never letting Jiraiya get my job. Oh and I expect you to fight to the death to make sure my will is seen through."

"I would never do anything less sis."

It was a good twenty minutes before all that had been asked for had made it to the tower, during which time Tsunade wrote up several documents that would be important for the mission she was about to give out. When they all gathered in the office Tsunade read the letters that they had received as well as telling them what she thought of the last letter. Neji and Hinata almost seemed as suspicious as the elders had, but they had not out right denied that it was possible for the rebel Hyuga to be alive, Jakon actually thought it very likely, especially after learning his grandfathers age. Finally it was told where they would be going.

"The three villages have different sets of skills, abilities, and/or attributes that they prize over all others, the Village Hidden in the Rose is a village of all Kunoichi, no man is allowed inside its walls even at birth, the Village Hidden in the Fist prizes those skilled in taijutsu over anything else, and the Village Hidden in the Mind is a village of elitist and genius's, the seek out only the best and most powerful, those who come from clans or have Bloodline limits. So I have decided to send you. The team that's going to the fist will be team Guy, which will be headed by Guy, with Lee, Choji, and Jakon under him. The Kunoichi team will be headed by Anko with Sakura, Ino, Hanabi, and Tenten all under them. The last team will be heading to the Mind, Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Neji. Are there any questions? If so ask them now."

"Yeah" asked Anko, a little unhappy at having to lead a team of arrogant little girls, "Why do we have an extra teammate?"

"Because, that is one village I want as many details about as possible." when the other women in the group looked at her a little confused she elaborated, "The kunoichi in the Leaf need more motivation, something to put the fire under them so we won't be a dieing breed. So I want you to keep you eyes peeled for anything we might be able to use here."

While Anko may not have looked it, on the inside she was won over to the Hokage forever because of that, _'OH YEAH! We're going have a whole platoon of women after this! We may start our own guild! I am Women hear me Roar!'_ she was definitely a feminist at heart.

"Anything else… good. Here are the details for each village." And she gave packets to the closest member of each team, which included a message from Tsunade herself, a proposal for peace and alliance, info they had on the village, and a map of the world that held the shinobi villages in it. "This is an upper class B rank mission because you will not only be official ambassadors to the villages, but also spies under their noses. Should you be found out then there will be repercussions felt throughout the whole village, yet if you succeed then we may have up to three new allies from which we can count on. Go now, and come back safe. I want a message on how your doing every week, no exceptions. Should I fail to get a response within two weeks we will send to find out what has happened and save you if possible." She looked at them all, "There is one last thing you should know. We think that the three villages have a way of fast communiction, though how we do not know. So If any of our teams are found out then all of you could be in danger." She looked them over again, wondering if she would see them all again, and saw Naruto looked like he was about to burst, "Well seems like you've been waiting you whole life for this mission Naruto."

She only need wait seconds before hearing how happy he was, to everyone's great disappointment.

As they exited they broke off into their new teams, went over the new information, gathered equipment they would need for an extended trip, and went their own ways, not knowing the next time they would meet, if ever.

* * *

Ok, I know what your going to say, well not much happened here except at the end, well your right, this was just a intro chapter, set the mood and get things moving, shinobi and the world at large wait for no man and during our little time skip things have been happening, big things.

Please review, and nice juicy ones too, because I will keep writing the story but I will not update until I get six reviews, which seemed to be the average review count for Genin of the Leaf. Tell me what you loved, hated, thought I should have done differently, what you want to see happen, I may use your idea if you actually put it forth.

DB3200


	2. Chapter 2 Youth and Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the people I may quote in this story… or do I?

Since there are going to be a lot of different countries that you may not have heard of or I am making up, since I will not be going by the anime for almost anything, please find a map of the Naruto Universe (I used on from Wikipedia) and that should help you out. If you really need to I will send you a map with labels on it, though I will need you to email me. Thanks

Oh and I am sorry this took a little while to do but I have been busy, hope you enjoy and I just want to let you know I plan on doing things in two chapters at a time, on't know why, just will.

* * *

_**Chuunin of the Leaf**_

"The purpose of life is to fight maturity."- Dick Werthimer

"YEEEEEESSSSS!" yelled a boisterous green clad man with eyebrows that seemed to be ten times too large, "You see that Lee, just like I always say, you need to fight maturity, show the Power of Youth!"

"Woooohooooo! Yeah Guy-sensei!" They where reading a saying on the side wall of a nearby tavern, enjoying life as usual.

Jakon, Lee, Guy, Choji Akimichi, a rather large nin who seemed to have a never ending supply of potato chips in his bag, though how he did it was beyond Jakon, would be leaving today, heading for the Village Hidden in the Fist, a newly made hidden village that had surfaces within the year. They would act as diplomats and spies at the same time, trying to find out as much as they could where others had failed.

The large Chuunin, dressed in the armor that signified his clan, right off the back refused to go at the break neck speed that Lee and Guy would set.

"Alright then, LETS MOOOVVEE OUT!" yelled Might Guy, pointing out towards where he was going to lead them.

"The Cloud Country is in the other direction." said the chubby Chuunin, mowing down on chips, "What's the rush, we're ambassadors and we're not being timed or anything."

"Choji, my boy," said the older man, placing his arm around the boy who was a little taller than Guy, "there is so much out there to see. You need to have invigorating YOUTH!" Guy seemed to stare off for a second at this, "If we don't run out there with all the force of the wind at our backs then how can we hope to enjoy the power of youth." He seemed to have practiced this speech before, though Choji was unaffected.

The boy kept chewing his food and swallowed before answering, "Well I ain't running to keep up with you and besides, think of all the things you'll miss if you just run past them, all the little things, the flowers, the clouds, the FOOD." Choji seemed to stare off for a second just as Guy had, "How can you enjoy youth if you just pass everything by?"

Guy stood up and placed his hand on his chin, thinking about what the boy had said, "My GOD Lee! He may be on to something. Its risky, but youth is full of risks. Well lets go, to enjoy youth to its fullest!" and with that the two green clad men began to power walk away, looking at everything around them.

Jakon just put one hand on his head, the other on Choji's shoulder, "What have you done!" Choji just smiled.

The small group set off at a steady pace, what Lee and Guy called the turtle pace, slowly making their way north to the Cloud Country. That night they stopped in a village called the village of Windmills, taking its name from the large mills that made grain and electricity. In the village there was a place Choji said prepared the best fish filet in the Fire Country and made Guy and the team go there with him.

The restaurant in question was a large place, many circular tables with chairs around them on the ground and second floor. Lee, who's stomach hadn't settled from the late night before, did not eat, only watched as Choji ate fish, after fish, after fish. Finally the owner of the building came up to them.

"Boy, what do you think your doing? You ate three days worth of filet and your hogging up a table on the busiest night in a month." He said gesturing to the full restaurant, "You need to leave now, come get your bill or I'll have you arrested!" and the man stormed away.

Choji though had not been done 'enjoying youth' as he had put it when bringing the others there, "THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT!" but Guy was there to pull him down.

"Hold on Choji. While you may be enjoying yourself we do need to be leaving soon. I'll go get the bill ok, make sure Lee stays away from my saké!" and he was off. Lee too jumped up soon, proclaiming that he needed to relieve himself.

Choji just sat there with brooding face. Then it was like a light went off in his head as he remembered a little tale about one of his traveling companions. Jakon, who did not get to sleep until early morning, just watched with disinterest as Choji picked up and poured some of Guys saké into Lee's identical cup. Soon the two of them returned and Choji watched with a giant smile as Lee drank down the rest of his drink, a smile coming on to the other boys face too.

Nothing would have happened most likely, Lee seemed quite content, but soon the owner came back over, yelling at them because they hadn't left yet, "COME ON! I need to fill these seats with guest who won't eat me out of business!"

"Who you think you ellin at!?!" asked the drunk nin, his smile disappearing as he moved his whole body to look at the man, getting a strange look from Guy.

"I'M YELLING AT YOU BRATS! NOW HURRY UP!"

"Sir there is no need to-" began Guy, cut off by his student.

"Wha? You gunna ell at mee? I… I… I ought… kick your ash" he said between hiccups, "Yo… yo thing yo can mesh wiph meh… eh?!?"

"Lee, what's wrong with you, I haven't heard you like this since… Oh god!" and the first punch was thrown, instantly waking Jakon who hadn't know what was happening until he saw Lee act as he was: Lee was drunk.

Lee's first hit took out the owner, his next the guy in the seat behind him, "Wha, you want some too?" And he jumped up, just barely missed by Guy who had leapt at him to stop him. He landed on another table, breaking it in two pieces, followed by him putting his arms out on either side and jumping back, taking a few people down with great force.

Guy was soon there though and tried to put Lee in a hold, only to have the drunken master slide out and place a kick in the mans gut, "see GUY-SENSEI I told you I'ddd mathter it! WOOOOHHOOOOO! I'm going to the kitchen to thart binner!" and the drunken green beast ran for the kitchen, jumping over and kicking Jakon, who had tried to stop him, in the head.

In the kitchen Lee came across a stove and burned himself, causing him to try and fight his new enemy, only to break it and have more burns. He then found the freezer and someone tried to lock him in, and he forced his way out, breaking a giant hole in the wall of the building and the freezer. Stumbling into town he was met by the local police, who he accused of impersonating officers and proceeded to beat up. It was at this time that Guy and Jakon had found him again and this time Jakon lashed out with his lightning jutsu, which Lee amazingly did a flip over and ran at the boy, most likely taking him out if not for Guy slamming into him from the side. Holding the boy as well as he could Jakon came up to him and placed two fingers on his chest, sending chakra into it and shocking him out of his drunken state.

The whole time Choji followed, laughing all the way.

-----

Guy had not been pleased at what had happened, though Choji and even Jakon couldn't help but laugh when the pair were not looking. They went a little faster now, though not as fast as they could have, Choji's words still handing in there minds. They had been traveling like this for two days, a little talking between them all, in which time Jakon had learned that Choji had a scroll in his pouch where he kept all his food, including a never ending supply of potato chips. Jakon's only thought at this was, _'At least we wont starve to death… if we can get some of the food away from him.' _Though now they where sharing a bag of chips, Jakon's thought being forgotten for the moment.

Right now they were stopped on the outskirts of a village near the borders of the Country of Song, which shared part of the northern boarder of the Fire Country and was just east of the Sound Country where Orochimaru made his own village. Jakon, dressed in his usual attire, the chuunin vest open over top of it, was resting under a tree, sharing a bag of chips with Choji as he looked at the map and proposals made by the Hokage. _'It took us three days to get out of the Fire Country.'_ he thought to himself, taking another chip, _'So at this pace we should be out of this country by tonight or early tomorrow morning. Then we'll be in the Metal Country, which should take us another day to get through if we keep going as we are, then we need to find the exact location of the Fist Village, which might take up to a whole day to do. It isn't that far into the Cloud Country, just that we need to find it… Guess that's why it's a HIDDEN Village.'_

Their lack of speed had been because of Choji, getting the two green clad nin look at everything, yet it was a long way to travel either way. The Leaf was on the opposite side of the Fire Country from where they where heading and then there were the two countries to pass through. Next Jakon pulled out the Offer made by Tsunade, seeing if they were mentioned anywhere in their, if THEY had any obligations they didn't know about. If there was anything his grandfather had taught Jakon, it was to always be suspicious, anyone could be an enemy, anything could be a weapon.

The letter itself was quite simple, though it had some fancy wording. It basically said that the Fire Country and Leaf would recognize the Fist as an official Hidden Village and offered alliance against any common enemy they may have. The last part was what he had been looking for however, that the ambassadors sent by Konoha would stay in the Fist until their leader chose to accept or decline a treaty. _'That could be troublesome, it could give them a chance to learn our jutsu, decide to kill us, or find out that we have been spying. Things like this could take a lot of time.'_ Though deep down he knew this wouldn't take as long as he feared.

Soon they where up and moving again, Lee and Guy in the front, looking at everything they saw or enjoying the simple things as Choji had put it. Jakon was pretty bored with how the mission was going, he would have rather picked up the pace and been there already, but he knew when they arrived there would b plenty to see and do.

The land was wavy, many grassy hills that were the first signs of what to expect in the mountain covered Cloud Country. From time to time they would pass through a small village, though not as many as when they were in the Fire Country still, but very few even then. That night they stopped between two large hills, so they where better hidden in the near treeless lands and so they could make a small fire that would go unnoticed. They talked into the night and then went to sleep, Choji taking the first watch as usual so he wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night.

In the morning the set off early, making it out of the country before midmorning. This day was passed much in the same way as the others had, though the land became much more barren and rocky, looking more and more like the Cloud Country with each passing hour. Around four Jakon decided to learn a little more about his new teammate today, already knowing Guy and Lee too well.

"Choji Akimichi," he said in a little more formal tone, Choji was from one of the Four Noble Clans of Konoha after all and he didn't know the boy very well despite seeing him at the dinners their large group had, "I was wondering if I could ask you some more questions? We have met but have not gotten to know each other as well as we might have."

The heavier boy kept walking, but looked at Jakon considering, "Only under one condition." He said looking very serious for a second, "you must call me Choji and not use my full name when we talk. I told you when we met not to use my full name but you didn't listen."

Jakon had know that Choji wasn't stuck up, that much at least he had learned of the boy, but he was put off by the seriousness in is voice and the kindness in his words, they were very welcoming "Of course, I was just wondering if you could tell me about your clan and your abilities. We are going to be on a team and we may be fighting together," he reasoned, "so we should know about all of our combined abilities."

Choji smiled at the boy, "You know I think that's a good idea. I don't think those two thought about it since they know what we can do, but this is the first time that you and I have ever really talked. Tell you what, I'll tell you about my clan and you tell me about your and when we stop tonight we can have a good sparring match. Hopefully those two won't jump in and try to 'help out.'"

"What's that mean?" asked Lee who had slowed down to walk beside the other two boys.

"Oh um… well, you remember when you and Guy came to help us train last month, he… well Ino hasn't forgiven you yet and Shikamaru is still looking for his earrings." and though he didn't say it he still wanted to find the box of chips he had bought that they 'moved' on him.

Jakon had no idea what had happened and he didn't want to know. He had seen how Guy and Lee trained, he had joined in sometimes, but he had never seen anything go wrong in one of their sessions. The truth was Guy and Lee had no idea when something went wrong until it went horribly wrong and that's exactly what had happened at that training session.

"Well I apologized. But if your going to be training today then why stop later, why not now?!"

"Because," said Jakon, a little annoyed, "we have to get to the Hidden Fist Village by weeks end. We didn't bring a messenger bird with us, so we need to use one of theirs."

"But-"

"Yeah, lets just keep walking."

"But-"

"Maybe tonight."

"BUT-"

"Shut up back there!" came a yell from Guy who had ran a little farther ahead of them, "Something's not right here."

And the man stood listening to the sounds around him, to the calls of an animal Jakon thought, but he realized, _'There is no sound!'_ Indeed the terrain had become rocky and cliffs were formed by some of the hills, there could have been birds in any number of cliffs, lizards scurrying around, and other animals suited to such land, but right now there was nothing.

"Jakon," came Guys voice, suddenly straight behind Jakon, "Give me the map, it gave the location of a few key villages in the country, I want to see if we are near any of them."

Jakon quickly and quietly got out the map he had been reading earlier, still unsure of what was happening, why it had gotten so quiet. Guy looked over the map quickly, making several marks on it with a pencil he had in one of his pouches. Finally he could stand it no more, "Guy-sensei, what is wrong, are we near a village?"

"Yes, a city actually, we have been travelling on the road that leads there, but we have come across nobody coming from there and now this silence… Lee, you take the back, Choji you're his support, Jakon your upfront with me. We don't have a well balanced team like we normally would, but we should be fine if anything comes up. We are going to advance slowly, the hills here can provide plenty of space for an ambush so keep your eyes pealed… something's not right."

They marched forward slowly, taking in everything with great detail, finally they climbed up a tall rise. When they reached the top of it they looked down into the calderas, where a city had once been, thriving on the lake that had formed there. Now it was destroyed, partially sunken beneath the lack it once rose above, The dead trying to crawl away from whatever had attacked them.

None of them moved, they just looked around, wondering if the enemy was still there. Soon the moved out, looking over the dead to see what had killed them, "Broken skulls, legs, backs, and basically any other bone in the body." Said Lee once he saw some of the dead, "while others have not a single bone broken, they have small burns, lightening strikes most likely."

Jakon knew what had happened, though that didn't stop him from nearly being sick as he looked and talked, "They where attacked by the Fist and The Cloud Villages…" his eyes were widened as large as they would go at the sight, he had never seen so many dead or such destruction on a wide scale.

"Perhaps," said Lee, "though the Cloud alone could have done this, using the new village as a scapegoat."

"No Lee," said Guy looking very serious, no smile on his face which seemed like it was mad of stone, "this is very likely done together, the Cloud would not throw away such a valuable ally like that by trying to pass some of the buck… no what Jakon said is likely more true."

"And we're just going to walk into the village that did this like nothing ever happened?" said Choji incredulously.

"Yes!"

"But we can't just-"

"Yes we can, Choji, because we are Shinobi," said Guy, looking the boy in the eyes, "and if we do not do this then not only will we have thrown away a chance at peace, but as well we will not be able to gather any information on the Fist Village for the Hokage. Now stop protesting and lets go," he said turning away and walking around the carnage that lay ahead, "there is nothing further for us to see here. We will report this the Hokage, but we have to go now. We pick up our pace from here, we will make camp a little while away from here and we will get into the village by tomorrow afternoon with luck." And he took off, soon followed by Lee and then Jakon. Choji took one last look at the sight just to engrain it in his head, and then he too followed.

That night they had no fire and did not talk, Guy forbid it. They had double shifts, with two people on watch at a time, As Lee and Jakon sat, their eyes trying to pierce the darkness for anyone approaching, they each thought to themselves something very much the same, 'What is wrong with Guy?'

Lee could only partially understand it, _'Guy-sensei, I have seen you become serious before, but nothing like this. Even when we have come into battle you would not become like this, you are scared of something, that much I can tell, for I have seen you angry, happy, and sad, and this is not how you were… Why? What is it Guy-sensei?'_

Jakon could not claim such familiarity with Guy and could only guess,_ 'He is not himself, even I can tell that, but why then has he changed suddenly. He was on edge when he noticed there was nothing around us, everything fled the blood bath, but after seeing it he was different. Maybe this it the start of something bigger and he knows it, but what?'_

In the morning they took up a much faster pace, reaching the boarder of the Cloud Country before noon, and there in lay their next problem.

As they walked, following the winding path that went around a large mountain, placing them between the mountain and a high cliff side, they came across the checkpoint in the road, the boarder to the Cloud Country. The check point was a great wall, from cliff side to mountain, with a little hut on either side of the wall, a door right next to the wall. As they came closer two men came out of the hut on their side of the wall. One of the men, a short guy wearing all black and no visible forehead protector, was walking towards them, the other just standing back.

"Well what do we have here? A group of shinobi… and from the LEAF no less. Now what could you _people_ want?"

"We are on a diplomatic mission to the Hidden Fist Village, by any chance would you know where it is?" said Guy, as friendly as he could, all hint of his former self from earlier in the day gone for this meeting.

"No, I wouldn't." said the man, a scowl on his face from how friendly Guy was acting, "and it doesn't concern you either scum."

"Come on Suke, let them pass!" yelled up his friend from near the wall.

"Shut it dobe, I'm handling this. Where were we? Ah yes, scum, that's right. Now why would you be looking into the Cloud Country's little village?"

"I told you we are on a diplomatic mission." Said Guy again, his smile never fading at all.

"Listen Big Brows I want a better reason than that! Now tell me before I have to take you in!"

"Little guy, don't mess with us," said Choji now, stepping up to the man who was a midget in comparison, "He might seem like he's ok, but I'm in a _REALLY_ bad mood, so why don't you move out so we can remain _DIPLOMATS_."

The man by the door just started to bang on it with one hand, yelling out to the people on the other side while keeping an eye on the ensuring fight, "SENSEI, HE'S DOING IT AGAIN!"

The other guy looked at Choji and then jumped at him with a yell, only to have an over sized fist knock him back and through the now opened door in the wall. Another man, no hair and a scar running down his face and neck, and a girl, both wearing all black and the forehead protector of the Cloud village, walked through the door, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY GENIN!?"

Choji didn't need to answer though, the apparent Genin who had been hitting the door told him what happened. "Suke! You idiot, why would you attack a group of ambassadors from another village? That's it, your being sent back to the village tomorrow morning, and You!" he said looking at Guy and Choji who now stood in front of the other two, looking at the team of misfits guarding the door, "I guess owe you an apology then, don't I?"

"If it isn't any problem," said Choji before Guy could open his mouth, "could you tell us where the Hidden Fist Village is, we are on our way there?"

The man looked at Choji a second, sizing him up, "So why _would_ you want to go there? The Cloud and the Leaf are the ones who need to work on their relations."

"Well they are a new village and we wish to know their intentions towards the other Hidden Villages." Said Choji, taking over for Guy for the moment.

"Yes, yes, well then you need to follow the road, eventually you will come across a statue, the Cloud is somewhere north east of that, the Fist is directly east of it though, along the cost. You should be able to follow a river all the way there. Normally we would need to provide a set of gear and a boat for a traveler, but since you are all shinobi I think we can forget that. Now get out of here," he said, a touch of scorn in his voice as he turned away, "we may be allies when it comes to documents, but that doesn't mean I have to like you. Shit I would detain you if you weren't diplomats and my student hadn't attacked you. NOW GO!" and he pointed to the door, then turned back to his student, ready to beat him. Though the little group left before they saw anything.

Following the road they did soon come across a statue, and due east they went. The Cloud Country was full of mountains and rivers, the main characteristic of the barren lands, and the Fist was at the end of one of these rivers, since due east lead along one of them, just as the man had told them.

They where full of anticipation as they neared their destination, and possibly their deaths if they were not well received. They were in enemy territory now and Jakon couldn't help but feel… eager! This was his first step into a much bigger world, it was chance for him to see what others had to offer. In all his time since he had become a Chuunin he had not had to fight a single shinobi that was above a Genin level, they had come across nothing of interest, but now, with a seal full of chakra and a wooden sword on his back, he couldn't wait!

Lee moved on with a graceful silence, despite the huge amount of weight he carried on his legging and within his chakra enforced Chuunin vest, very worried over his sensei. Yet at the same time he couldn't wait, he was going to a village, a Hidden Village none the less, where the fact that he did not have chakra, unless he opened the Initial Gate, was not considered a problem at all.

Choji was quiet, to quiet. He had seen dead men and women, he had killed some of the people he had seen, yet nothing like what he had seen yesterday. He was too kind, he knew that, he was a gentle person and when it came to the matter he would force himself to be a shinobi. But still… he didn't know what kind of person it took to attack a city that had no shinobi of its own and just kill. He didn't want to eat for once, as long as he thought about what he saw he wouldn't be able to eat…

How long had he been a jounin? Was it going on ten years or eleven? It didn't matter, he knew all he would need to survive. He had fought in the third Shinobi War when he was a Chuunin, and he knew that if he could survive that then he could live through anything… well maybe their was one thing, he knew he wouldn't be able to live while watching his precious student going through a war as he and so many others had, something that seemed more likely to happen now. What they had seen was something only done in the harshest of wars, _'… Lee…'_

It was three and a half hours before the village was in sight, and what a sight it was: The first thing they saw was a wall made up of tall tree's, evenly tall and spiked at the top. Hanging from the side of two large towers, to either side of a rather large gate, where fifteen bodies, some rotting away, while four where amazingly fresh.

Choji nearly fell over his feet at the sight. Jakon was ready to hurl, his grandfather never having prepared him for such things, though he held himself. Lee looked on unchanged on the outside, though he was questioning whether he really _was_ looking forward to such a village. Guy stared on unchanged both inside and out, Konoha used to practice such things during the war, he should know, he had missions that had him drag dead and living bodies up to be hanged.

Though dead bodies where not the only thing up in those towers. As soon as they had been within sight, before _they_ could even see the village wall, the alarm had gone up and they were now being approached by a group of eight men and women, the leader of which seemed to be a man with black hair going off in every direction at different lengths, looking as if he had his hair cut by a blind man wielding a pair of swords. He was not very tall, perhaps just five feet, but no taller, though he had muscle to spare, as could be seen in his exposed arms, against one rested a staff, one half having a scythe and the other what looked like a claw.

As both groups stopped, looking each other over, Guy put on a smile and slowly raised one hand, yelling at the top of his lungs, "HELLO! MY NAME IS MIGHT GUY, AN AMBASSEDOR SENT TO YOU FROM THE HOKAGE OF THE HIDDEN LEAF OF THE-"

"SHUT UP!" yelled the man, only half as loud as Guy could manage, barely being heard. Now that Guy was quiet he said in a normal tone, "We can hear you quite fine think you. Now you are from the Leaf? What business do you have in our village?"

Guy shot the man a smile and slowly approached, "Yes we are from the Leaf, Hokage-sama sent us here as ambassadors, to give a treaty to the leader to your village and to officially recognize the Fist as a Hidden Village and propose a treaty. Jakon!" he said suddenly, placing his hands out expectantly without looking away from the man.

Jakon quickly realized that he wanted the documents that they had been given and searched through his bag for them, not finding them. He looked up, expecting Guy to be worried or mad, but all he saw was the strange haired man, already holding and looking over the papers. Wide eyed, Jakon couldn't help but think, _'How did he do that? When?'_ At the same time a telltale grin shot across his face. And what did it tell: he was really going to enjoy this place.

"A _treaty?!_" he asked, a little put off that they were telling the truth and that there was someone actually trying to make peace with them instead of sending spies, "Why would the Leaf want to make an alliance with us when we are located in and allied with the Cloud Country?"

"Because you are a newly formed hidden village and the Leaf does not wish to make and enemy of you. Besides," said Guy, putting a cheesy smile on, "what do you have to lose?"

"Funding, an ally, our village, our lives… we have plenty to lose." The man stared at Guy a second, "I cannot give you the ok for this if I wanted to, but neither can I charge you with anything or pass sentence even if I thought I needed to, I am unsure of which would be better. All I can do is this: We will provide you with rooms and allow you restricted access to the village as a whole. Training fields, restaurants, stores, and the east wing of the main building, where your rooms and my office are located, will be all you can use. If you are suspected of any crime or are caught outside of these area's then you will be charged with sedition and you will be detained until the head off our village returns from his trip, which you'll be stuck waiting for anyways. Lets go!" There was no room for questions or debate, as the man turned around and waved for them to follow him through the now opening gates.

The village was a very simple one, though well planned out. The buildings where mostly single story, with a few two story buildings here or there. Though what made the style well planned out was that fact that no single building was touching another and that roads separated them all, making it better if they were assaulted, they could use any roadway as an ambush point, the enemy never knowing where you could be in wait. As well it would be very hard to navigate if you did not know your way around already, if an enemy was looking for something or someone they might need to go through every house to find what they needed, there was very little to distinguish a single area apart except where there where venders booths or saké stands.

What struck Jakon was that the place was thriving, people dressed in the clothing of many different villages and countries, shinobi and villager alike. _'They accept almost anyone and now they seem to be doing quite well. I wonder how strong they are really?'_ but he was cut from his thoughts as they came to a building, undistinguished from any of the others around it except for a pair of guards in front of the door.

"We are here, this is the center of power for the Hidden Fist and where all dignitaries are housed, though you would only be the second group, the first being sent from our benefactors in the Hidden Cloud." And they entered what seemed to be a small building.

In front of them was a metal shaft, thick cables that would be very hard to break hanging down it. As they waited for the platform to come up Choji started to talk with the man, "So what would be your name?"

"I am Niji, I am in charge of the man in charge of training the watch and anyone else I'm asked or want to train, any thing else you would like to know?" the man said quickly, impatiently.

Not taking the mans tone as not wanting to talk, or not caring, Choji asked away, "Why don't you tell us a little about the village or how you came here. It is quite fascinating that you guys were able to gather a villages worth of men and women who all specialize in Taijutsu."

The man put a smirk on his face, "he, well I have been here since we got started, I was the Village heads right hand. He would come to me about everything he wanted or needed to know since he was too busy doing paper work or planning out the villages course. He was the one who came up with the layout for the village and the idea to have our base under ground. He's also the reason why we have a wooden wall around the village, in case the Cloud took insult to us being here. But he got sick, he died not long after and I was demoted when this new guy came in, he is quite good, a master of Taijutsu. He even gave the inspiration for quite a few styles and techniques himself. But he doesn't see things in the same light as me and the other had. But we live on, knowing that we have lasted for nearly a year and will live on for much longer." Finally the lift came up and he stepped on, "You, boy," pointing to Choji, "what's your name?"

"Choji Akimichi," he said.

"Well I would very much like to talk with you some more. Since the lift won't be able to hold all of our weight why don't you and I take the first ride down." When Choji nodded and stepped on the lift disappeared down into the dark of the base.

"Well then," said Guy, "seems things may go quite smoothly." Then, giving Jakon a nudge in the ribs, a goofy look on his face, "Well then I guess this will give you time to think what Hanabi's doing in that village full of women." This caused Jakon to blush as perverted thoughts came unbidden and memories of what he wouldn't have came all too willingly.


	3. Chapter 3 Drunk yelling

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, blah blah blahblahblah!

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Chuunin of the Leaf

_"Women do not get exhausted, they only exhaust others."_- Robert Jordan 

Hanabi couldn't help but grin at the stupid quote, something she had found carved into a tree, right below what would have appeared to be a heart that had two names in it, both crossed out though the beginning of the names could be seen still, roughly scratched off: Dan- and Ko-. "Well I hope this it true, cuz we got one hell of a trip on our hands!" and she couldn't be happier, she would be on a true mission outside the village and away from the eyes of her family, many of whom looked at her expectantly.

She took her gaze away from the tree and returned it to the women who would lead this mission, Anko. The older women, in her early twenties, was bent over the map that the Hokage had given them, making notes on it with a evil grin on her face. Hanabi had heard that the women was borderline psychotic, yet that only made her more curious about the women.

Her other teammates where experienced Chuunin she knew, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno, and Tenten… well she didn't know Tenten's last name, yet they where all good none the less. They had all trained together at one time or another so she knew what they could do, unlike Jakon and Choji.

Sakura was good with planning, Genjutsu, medical jutsu, near perfect chakra control, and was stronger then hell. Hanabi thought the girl could have been promoted to Jounin, she had experience as well from what Hanabi had been told, having helped kill a member of the Akatsuki, along with many other missions for the Hokage.

Ino was learned in medical jutsu as well, if not to Sakura's level, and was a master of the mind. She was good at torture too apparently, having been taken under the sadistic wing of Ibiki Morino, who she had been ordered to help during one interrogation session, which turned into two, which turned into a dozen. By using her families mind jutsu, brute force of interrogation from Ibiki, and her healing jutsu, she was a natural.

Lastly was Tenten, a creative and very spirited girl when she was away from her two teammates, Guy and Lee. She was an expert marksman, aiming better than most Hyuga could with their Byakugan activated. Though she might not be able to advance beyond Chuunin, Special Jounin at best. She simply did not have the well roundedness of others, though she did make up for that with her creativity. She had invented things like her new 'frags' and her prized piece that she had shown Hanabi earlier, a three pronged kunai that had hundreds of little seals engraved in it, though what it would do was beyond Hanabi.

Anko was up now and led her team out of Konoha, a, not nearly as evil, smile on her face. Hanabi and the other girls talked, Anko joining in from time to time. At lunch Anko went over with them the whole of the mission, "We are heading to the Wave Country. We will head for the Great Naruto bridge and should arrive there in a week or so. Now we-"

"Wait a second," interrupted Sakura, "it shouldn't take more than a few days to WALK to the Wave Country, why such the wait?"

"Well!" snapped Anko , "There are few places I believe we must visit! Now then, we will present ourselves to the head of the village and ask them to consider the treaty, meanwhile we will look for anything we can get our hands on, anything good or, with luck, explosive!" Hanabi was starting to like this women more and more, as were the others as they all let out evil little grins.

They went on then, walking until three or four, finding the first of the villages that Anko wanted to visit. She went with them to find a room but disappeared soon after, telling them to spar outside of town. The foursome did just that, knowing that whatever Anko needed from this town was important. Hanabi and Tenten watched Ino and Sakura spar first, entertained by the vigorous fight that was going on between the two rivals.

Sakura had the advantage off the back, she was faster, smarter, stronger, and knew her opponent too well. Ino on the other hand was determined. She finally managed to get one of her jutsu to work, a little something that let Ino take control of some of Sakura's actions, making her miss on punches, make her trip over her own feet, and stop when dodging attacks. The fight ended quickly once the jutsu wore off, a single angry blow to the gut had Ino out cold and left Sakura with bruises and scratches here and there, clearly having been the outclassing the blonde totally when it came to a fight.

"Should have ended it when you had the chance Ino-pig!" and the pink haired kunoichi started to heal her friend.

Tenten and Hanabi where in no rush to spar after seeing that fight, afraid that Sakura would push them too far. The girl was a little too energetic after a sparring match like that.

Instead Tenten took them all aside and showed them her special kunai, or rather three of them, "There all I've been able to make since getting all of the kinks out of it. While my frags are good they aren't a shinobi's weapon and they cant be thrown nearly as far as a good kunai. Took me forever to make them, they have two-hundred-ninety-eight seals engraved on them and when you feed chakra into it through a wire it sets them all off at once and then… **BANG**! The enemy is gone, along with everything else too close to them. The best part is that the flames and shockwave are ten times stronger than a blast note but the size isn't ten times bigger, its compressed so you can get the best bang for your buck and still use it in normal combat. It opens so many possibilities I…" Hanabi was interested, but not that interested.

That night, before Anko ever got back, Hanabi went back out to the area they had trained at that afternoon, taking three scrolls with her. She opened the first and started to form the seals and jut her right hand out, letting the chakra move outward. A bright white stream of light appeared, about the size of a sword when it was looked at head on, but it was no longer than a butter knife. Concentrating she pushed the chakra out wards, closing her eyes to help her concentrate.

When she opened them the blade was as long as kantana, perfectly straight. Now she focused on the blade and it slowly moved, bending at whatever point she wanted it to. Then she let it go and did it again, trying to work it faster. The entire time she was unaware of a person in the distance, watching her work on the jutsu. By the end of the night she had noticeably improved, though only because she had got the basics down nearly a week ago, after three months of training whenever she could spare the time, only the day before did she realize she would have to work on it still if she was going to use it to its full extent. Oh but the look on the others faces when they saw this jutsu, it would leave their jaws hanging.

Back in the room she saw Anko was back and she crawled into bed herself. Not noticing a distinct smell in the air.

The next day was a near perfect mirror of the day before, as soon as Sakura healed a headache of Anko's, only this time they went a little off course, until they found a village at around six, and Anko once again went away to do her business. Hanabi silently slipped off as well, to work on her jutsu.

She worked until six, having the feeling that she was being watched. When she activated the Byakugan the feeling disappeared though, nothing within her field of view. This time when she got back Anko had not come back, the other three girls were still waiting, wondering where she and Anko had gotten to. Hanabi stayed up with them all night, until one at a time they nodded off to sleep, only to be awaken by Anko early in the morning, who, after having Sakura healing another headache that seemed quite serious to the medical nin, told them, "Come on, we have to travel double time today to get to my next place."

Sakura was finally interested enough to ask where she was going when they got into towns, only to receive an answer that only Naruto had heard so often, "I'm gathering information, seeing what people know about this new village, so far not much but we may learn something new."

A third day… gone after what seemed like a forever of running. They where now, or Hanabi's case finally, a days travel from the Fire Countries borders. The village in question was a major trading center, with many shops, appealing to Ino in an instant and Tenten after seeing a several promising weapons shops and smithies. Hanabi said she was going to train instead, honestly having all the material objects she could ever wish for because of her family. Sakura gave a interested glance at the girl, deciding to train with the younger girl.

Hanabi was a little disappointed at first when she heard Sakura say this, she had wanted to train her new jutsu, her secret weapon. They had found a area outside of the town where they could train, Hanabi deciding she wouldn't spar with the girl, having seen her knock Ino out in one hit. But Sakura managed to be a surprise.

"So now that we're away from the others lets get down to business." She said, looking at the younger girl with a knowing smile on hr face, "You have been working on a jutsu every night and I wanna see what it can do."

Hanabi juts looked at the girl for a second, nothing coming across her face, she just opened her mouth and asked, "How… How did you know I've been working on a jutsu?"

"I followed you." She said, giving a big smile, "Your not _that_ hard to follow and I had been waiting up to talk to Anko anyway. When you got up I was a little interested to find out what you were doing. I wasn't sure the first night so I followed you yesterday too. That's when I realized what kind of training it was. When did you learn to-"

"I got it down a few days ago," interrupted the Hyuga, "before we ever left Konoha, but when I was sparring with Naruto and I tried to use it and it was impossible to make it do what I wanted, it just destroyed the clone. I had only learned how to use it, not how to use it effectively. The past few nights and afternoons have been to improve my control over it, though I still feel like I'm only half way there."

Sakura looked at the girl, _'The next generation, their so strong already, so ambitious.'_ A little laugh came to her voice, "Well you are only half way done." When she saw the other girls questioning look she answered it, "I am the apprentice to the Hokage, I have access to libraries of jutsu and I'm required to know a great number of them, what they do, and, even if I can't use them, how they work and how to make them work. This one is one of those jutsu. Anyone can learn how to do the basics, but it takes very precise control and lots of practice to use it to its full potential. I knew it for what it was after the second night and I knew I would offer to help you with it the second I saw how fast you have been taking too it."

The other girl blushed at the compliment, "Sakura-Chan, I really am not that good, truly." It took no effort to be so humble before the girl, it seemed like the right thing.

"HA, now there's a good one! Not good, I can tell you, you have taken to this faster than any normal shinobi I know could take to it. Naruto would have the time of his life with this, chakra control is not his strong suit, and that is exactly what this is all about."

Only one thing bothered her, "Sakura-Chan, you said you already knew all about this technique, so you wouldn't need me to teach you if you wanted to learn, and you said I had taken to this quickly, so I really wouldn't _need_ you to help me. So why help at all?"

Sakura just looked around, taking a big breath as she readied to tell the girl, "Can you keep a secret, because this one has been bothering me for a while and I need to tell someone. Tsunade-sama ordered me not to mention it to anyone, in case it got back to a certain blond baka." This was true enough, most of the former Rookie Nine couldn't keep a secret worth shit, even other Leaf shinobi couldn't be told because of shinobi like Anko or Guy, "The night before we left, a little while after the group dinner ended me and a few others were summoned by the Hokage and promoted to Jounin and Special Jounin." Sakura had small, sad smile on her face now, but she didn't tell her the other thing they had been told, the fact that Naruto would not be allowed to become a Jounin because of the Elders, "He'll be so mad that he didn't get promoted that he'll freak on her, she didn't want his feeling hurt or him bothering her so she swore us to secrecy I guess." This being only half the real reason why.

"So you wanted someone to tell that to?" she asked, happy for the girl, though a little skeptical about what was not being told, "Well… if that's it then when tell me?"

Sakura's genuine smile came back, an evil little glint in her eye's, "Well there are plenty of reasons: that fact that your from a clan that keeps secrets to themselves, that if you tell anyone then I'll broadcast your new jutsu to the world starting with Naruto, and the fact that I saw mutual benefit here for the both of us. The Leaf needs strong kunoichi and its my duty as a Jounin to help others and I am _quite_ good at chakra control as it is, so I thought you might like some help."

She was taken aback, fearing that Naruto would know about her jutsu even before she mastered it. Well on the other hand a new Jounin helping her would make the process a lot faster… what more could she do than except, promising herself to look into this hidden promotion when they got back, _'Something just isn't right.'_ But she was soon training and forgot all her worries.

On the walk back to the apartment Hanabi had another thought, "Sakura-Chan, if you're a jounin now, then why did you tell me something you were sworn to secrecy on? Won't you get in trouble, I mean secrecy is one of the biggest things for a Jounin"

Sakura blushed as she told her, "Yeah… Well I've… I've never been that good with keeping secrets. When I was on his team I told Naruto a secret about someone else and… well I guess its all because of the 'pretty girl' I was in the academy, you just never kept a secret and gossiped on EVERYTHING. But we all have our little flaws, even the Sannin do."

Hanabi just laughed, realizing the girl was right, everyone had that one little flaw: Alcoholism, gambling, being a pervert. She wondered what her flaws where… she stopped laughing and took this part seriously.

The pair arrived back at the apartment a little later that night, Anko fast asleep, with Ino and Tenten still out on the town. As soon as Sakura looked at her team leader she knew that it wasn't quite right, a step closer gave her the smell that she needed to know, having been around Tsunade long enough to know it anywhere. She prayed to herself under her breath, "Please let this have been a one time thing, don't tell me…" But she said nothing out loud, bidding her time.

The next day, after Sakura was done healing the women while giving a questioning stare, was not nearly as much of a scurry, though they did reach their next town while finally leaving the Fire Country, a place just inside the borders of the traders country, a land with no name, since it was run by merchants an a few large companies. It directly connected to the Wave and was the only reason the bridge would have cut off Ghato's power over the country so long ago. By nighttime they had reached the village that Anko had been looking for, she set them up in a hotel as usual, only this time Sakura dragged her teammates after the sadistic kunoichi.

Ino complained at missing all the shops they passed, Tenten gawked at every half decent weapons dealer they saw, Sakura dragged both of them along with her great strength, while Hanabi just watched the two Chuunin and the, what she knew to be, Jounin struggle against one another.

Despite all of this they never lost sight of Anko, who eventually slipped inside a building, no markings on it to show that it was something other than a worn out building. Sakura saw this and was immediately wondering if her first assumption had been wrong. She didn't care, she would find out where Anko went every night when they reached a new village. She quickly made a hand seal and all four girls had seemed to age. After seeing the other girls change Ino couldn't help but pull out a mirror and see what she looked like, the others gathering around too.

Sakura seemed to be in her twenties, fuller breast and hips, along with a few well placed scars that made her seem more dangerous than she already did. Tenten was bigger, much more dangerous looking, like she could take on Choji Akimichi and win. Hanabi looked like she was in her prime, a true beauty that was tall, fair in skin, which look flawless since the genjutsu covered the scar that went down her face, and much fuller in all aspects, causing the young girl to blush something fierce. Lastly was Ino, who turned around and started to scream at Sakura to turn her into something else. Apparently a forty something year old, overweight, and hunchbacked women look wasn't working for the blond. Sakura gave a quick chuckle then and turned her into something much more fitting for Ino, something that sent Hanabi back into a blushing fit that was not like her.

Walking up to the building, the foursome of girls, now moving together willingly, pushed on the door and entered a whole new world. Sakura couldn't help but get a smile on her face, while at the same time tightening her fist so the gloves se always seemed to wear cracked from the strain. Anko's idea of information gathering was sitting at a bar, slamming down drink after drink.

Sakura was ready to confront the women, but was stopped by two hands on her arms, Tenten and Ino. The two girls gave evil grins and Ino started, "You know Sakura, we do look old enough to drink now…"

Tenten picked up from there, "And at home we wouldn't be able to get away with Genjutsu disguises…"

"And I know I'm not waiting five more years to do it legally…"

"So why don't we, you know…"

"Have a good time"

"Relax"

"and let the good times roll!"

Sakura could believe the two girls, but she knew she wouldn't be able to win without tipping Anko off to her, "Fine, but only-"

"Great!"

"You're the best!"

"Waiter, get us a round of drinks here!" and soon the four of them were at a table, four drinks given to them. Ino and Tenten took their drinks and took it down slowly, Sakura, due to her sensei being Tsunade, chugged it down like a pro. The their was Hanabi, who had tried Saké before, but had never had a full glass before. She saw what Sakura did and decided to take it like the older women, chugging it down with a little more difficulty.

As soon as it was gone the girl winced her eyes and shook her head, _'Clearly not the best thing to do!'_ yet she felt good, real good. Ino and Tenten looked at the pair wonderingly, causing Hanabi to blush as she had so many times that day. Sakura just shook her head and told them to hurry up. Sakura stood up and walked over to the bar, hopefully not to be noticed by the older women. Ino and Tenten soon got up too, leaving their near full drinks behind, both of which were fully empty before Hanabi left to join them, feeling quite good right about then.

As soon as all four of them were together, Hanabi being a little loose on her feet, Sakura went up to the bar and stood right next to their leader, "So, what you doing here?" she asked, waiting for someone to take her order.

The older women did not look up but took a big swig of her drink before answering, "I just HAD to stop here, its been one of my dreams to visit all the greatest bars in the world, and I happened to be coming this way with some girls and decided they could look after themselves for a while, so I took off to have some fun. They think I'm gathering information… hehehmmmm. Well then, what are you doing here, looking to have a good time like us gals ought too?"

"Well," said a disguised Sakura, who's genjutsu passed the test as Anko looked at the girl head on without noticing a thing, "I was looking for a person, a women actually."

Anko gave a little smile before turning back to her drink, "Sorry, can't help you there. I may be considered strange to some but I have my own standard, women not being in there!"

Fuming and a vein ready burst in her head, Sakura bent down in front of the women while dropping the genjutsu around her face only, "Well, you seem to be my type perfectly!" Anko nearly spit her drink in Sakura's face, but Hanabi hitting a man head on seemed a little more important.

The man in question wanted to talk to the older LOOKING Hanabi and had been tapping her shoulder for a few seconds before grabbing the drunk eleven year old Hyuga's shoulder and turning her around. This was a mistake, as the trained shinobi planted a strong punch into his nose, possibly breaking it. She turned to see the others looking at her strangely. This all ended soon, as Sakura was pushing her down and letting out a punch at a man who's drink had been spilt because of the girl and had pulled out a sword. This man went flying due to the girls 'freaky strength,' and landed on another table, drenching a rather robust women with saké and breaking the table she was using.

The women flung the man aside like he was nothing, starting another fight because of the people he hit. The woman charged at Sakura, fully intending to try an hurt the girl, if not for Anko, who was between them and flipping the women over in and instant.

But to their surprise she went down and then came back up, this time a forehead protector clearly seen around her neck, a single rose on it. The women ran forward, this time when Anko moved in though, giving the drunken Jounin a kick to the chest, sending her into a new fight that broke out. Once more the women went for Sakura, But soon found her legs couldn't move.

Looking down she saw a bright, nearly white, blue rope around her legs, Hanabi at the other end as she manipulated the chakra from her hands. She then gave a flick of the wrist and sent the women airborne, where she had intended to finish the women with a giant grin on her face because she finally got the movement down, if it weren't for the alcohol making itself more known in her body and caused her to lose consciousness.

Ino and Tenten quickly moved, Ino to get Anko before she got killed by the steadily growing mob, and Tenten to get Hanabi, who's small eleven year old body had fallen to the saké. Sakura guarded their backs as they left, leaving the others their to fight among themselves for however long they wanted. She would later find out that the place was destroyed by a angry kunoichi after he refused to pay for the insult to her.

----- hehe-----

That night the small group camped outside of the village, well hidden by Sakura's genjutsu. Four of the members of the party did not get a decent sleep until much later, after Sakura and Anko were done having a yelling match, Hanabi on the other was out cold.

"WHAT, might I ask, where you guys doing there?!?!" said Anko, more than a little upset and a headache already starting to form.

"I could ask the same thing to you ANKO!" giving the women a glare that could have sent Tsunade running, "We are supposed to be on a diplomatic mission and I find out you've been taking so long and having us zig zag across the continent so you can get a good drink!"

"Hey, I TOLD you in there, its always been one of my dreams, to go to all the best bars in the world!" she seemed to stare off as she spoke now, daydreaming, "To travel the world and become an master of the fine art of drinking. Becoming a legend in my own right!"

The women's rant was soon ended with a punch to the head, "You're a legend all right, 'The Legendary Lush!'" This only led to all out yelling for nearly an hour, until a still sleeping Hanabi yelled out at the two using such language that the others could only stare until they broke out in laughter at the small girls, now perpetually, blushing form, their quarrel lost in the moment.

-----

Morning, a time of true serenity for the young Hanabi Hyuga on most days, a time when she could escape the world and all its noises to be her. This day would have been no different from the rest, she would have been glad to escape all sound of the world… except her head was the loudest thing she had ever heard. She painfully thought to herself, _'I could put Naruto to shame with this, I'm surprised the others can even stay asleep with all this noise I'm hearing!'_ She waited what felt like a lifetime before the others woke up, the sun not even above the horizon.

Ino was the first one up and saw Hanabi sitting on her sleeping mat, her arms wrapped around her legs which were pushed against her chest, while starring off into nothingness, which looked quite painful by the wincing that came every now and then.

Getting up Ino walked over to the girl and let the soothing green chakra of her medical jutsu cover her hand,_ 'I might not be Sakura, but I'm good enough to heal a hang over,'_ thought the blond, then remembered her most frequent practice of her gift, Asuma Sarutobi_ 'Yeah, so many times since I learned to heal… Though that was before he-'_

Her trip down memory lane was cut short before it had a chance to start, as the blond went down face first into the ground, Sakura standing behind her with a fist where her head had been, "BAKA!! NO HEALING THEM INO PIG! ITS THEIR PUNNISHMENT!" then quieter to herself, "Next time I'm using my chakra strength."

Anko, who was awake now with her head hurting from the loud abrasive yelling, quietly asked the pink haired demon that stood before her, "So, since when do you get to punish people? I don't remember you being given the lead."

Sakura's answer to this was a quick knock to the head for the women, possibly giving a concussion, "I'm in charge until we get to the Hidden Rose, you lost that when you decided to get drunk every night. Now hurry up and pack up." This day was going to be long, though Sakura couldn't help but smile at Hanabi, _'She was able to use her jutsu in an actual fight quite effectively… I hope it wasn't just the saké though.'_

----

At Sakura's new anger driven pace they group reached the Great Naruto bridge in four or five hours, Hanabi couldn't really tell since her head was still hurting her if she thought to hard. Crossing into the Village they stopped for lunch, Sakura making them all stick together. In the now flourishing market place Sakura met a young boy who was around Hanabi's age, wearing a blank forehead protector and carrying a weapon pouch on his leg and hip, and, to Sakura's great disappointment, an orange jumpsuit.

"Sakura-Chan!" said the boy excitedly, having recognized Sakura before he had even been seen, "What are you doing here?"

Though it took a second to recognize the boy she soon drew the connection, and with a smile on her face gave Inari a little hug before talking, "Inari, I haven't seen you since me and Tsunade-sama came to visit two years ago, but…" she was looking over his choice of clothing, "why are you dressed like that?"

"Hehehe, I'm a ninja now, so I can help protect the island now, just like those women on the other side of the island." Which was a rather large island to the southeast of the Hidden Leaf and the Fire Country, "When those women came through here they offered to let any women who wanted to become shinobi go to the village. Some of us boys were lucky enough to have kunoichi mentors, though they need to come here to teach us. When that happened I decided to get a new look and took a page from Naruto's when he came to visit me almost a year ago"

"They just offered to let any women into the village?" asked Anko, who was now behind Sakura, "that's awfully nice of them, even the Leaf doesn't let anyone in to train unless they have actual potential to become shinobi or are from rich and important families."

Inari took a long look at the woman, who was scantly clad as usual with the jacket, black short shorts and tang top, and fishnets she wore for the past three and a half, nearly four, years. When his eyes stayed a little too long the women hit him upside the head, "OW! You know that hurts?!"

"Yeah, that's the point you little punk!"

"Hmp, you must be the crazy one Naruto was talking about when he visited, the one from the Chuunin exams. No one could b so random, mean, or dressed so little!" The smack was heard all through out the square they had been in and soon Anko was dragging the group away to eat somewhere private.

Inari however was eager to get away to nurse his wound, he hadn't been serious when he had said that, he hadn't even known that it WAS the same women. He was just referring her to some crazy chick Naruto had known.

While sitting in the shade of his home, placing ice over the swelling cheek, he saw two legs in front of him, dressed in fishnets. Jumping up the boy made to run, only to have arms wrap tightly around his neck. He couldn't breath and barely heard what the other was saying, his terror growing with each second as he was lifted in the air.

"HOW IS MY STUDENT ON THIS B-E-A-UTIFUL DAY! I KNOW YOU CAN'T WAIT TO START TODAYS LESSONS! But first I'll let you get your breath back from seeing my beautiful fa-. Hmm?" the women looked down at the young boy she had taken to teaching, seeing the potential in him and loving his bright outfit and demeanor, but she was looking at the giant bruise on his face that was starting to swell like a melon, one that she did not cause, "Inari-san, what happened to your face, were you peaking on Rina-chan again?"

Looking up at the women with a blush that only made his already red face go as dark as an apple, "N-no! I was talking to friend of mine and I, well I kinda insulted one of her friends. I should have known that a kunoichi would hit that hard!"

The woman's thoughts went from her young ward to the kunoichi he was talking about, "Inari what does your friend look like, and her traveling companion?"

"Hmmm? Well there was a group of them, Sakura-Chan is a pretty girl with pink hair and she wears a red shirt, pink skirt, and black shorts under that. Her friend is wearing a tan trench coat with fishnets under that."

"Thank you Inari!" said the women as she started to turn away, only to have Inari yell out to her.

"Wait! Aren't we going to train today? And I haven't even told about the other girls that where with her!"

"Others?" asked the women curiously.

"Yeah, I didn't get a good look at them but there were three others with her, one with their hair in buns, one blond girl who was really Slu… strangely dressed and a younger girl with there really weird eyes."

The women smiled and turned her head to the boy as she walked away, "Thank you Inari, but you should let the swelling go down a bit before we do anything. I'll see you in a day or two!"

Inari just picked up the ice pack he had dropped and started to ice his face again, "I'll never understand those chicks from the Rose Village."

-----

An hour after the group's little encounter with Inari, and Sakura yelling at Anko again, they team left the town for the hidden village, which the ironically were able to get directions to. As they left however they soon found their path blocked, eight other women standing in their way, one women standing in the front of them.

"Would you happen to be Sakura?" the women asked, pointing at the women in the tan trench coat, then she went on pointing at a certain pink haired kunoichi "and that would make you the women who was beating up on Inari-san!"

One of the other girls behind her whispered to the older women, "Sensei, I think you have them mixed up, you told me Sakura was the pink haired one."

"Wait, she told me Sakura was the freaky eyed girl!" said another girl, earning an evil glare from Hanabi.

"Um… I, Uh…"

"You're the worse sensei ever you know that?" said another girl, "You can't even get the descriptions right!"

"Hey there, now now, we aren't going to blame this all on me! Besides we can just ask these ladies which one is Sakura!"

"Um," started Sakura, worried about what these girls would do, "I am." Said Sakura, giving a questioning look at the fumbling group of girls in front of her, "Why you want to know?"

"Hmm? Well Inari has half his face swelling like a watermelon, I wanna know who did it! Besides he told me there was a bunch of foreign kunoichi here so its my duty to look into this."

"Yeah you tell her, YOU THE GREATEST MICHI-SENSEI!"

'_These girls are crazy… well at least four of them are…'_ thought Sakura, and she was right, the other four were looking over at their fellow shinobi from the Rose Village with hints of horror, disgust, fright, shame, and a look that just shouted WTF! "Well if there is anything we can do to help you then just ask, but Inari brought that hit upon himself when he insulted one of the strangest women from the Leaf."

"Well then, isn't that nice. First tell me why you are here, second who are you?"

"Well we are actually heading to the Hidden Rose Village, we have a treaty for the leader there, if she's interested. And since you asked I am Sakura Haruno, a friend of Inari's from one of my first missions, and these are my companions Hanabi, Ino, Tenten, and the Legendary Lush Anko."

"HEY! I DON'T DESERV THIS! I am supposed to be leading this mission not you!"

"There's A LOT you don't deserve, like the ability to reproduce. GOD THAT WOULD BE HELL!"

"YEAH Well FUCK YOU, YOU LITTLE CU-"

"ANKO-SENSEI, SAKURA-CHAN! Stop YELLING! I still have a huge headache."

One small group of four female shinobi just looked back between the three fighting girls and their fellow teammates, trying to decide who was crazier: it was too close to call, though now that Anko had tackled Sakura it was almost the Leaf women who won that one.

Finally though Ino and Tenten managed to separate the girls, letting them calm down before talking again, "So, who might you be?"

The energetic woman who had accused Sakura of beating up Inari stood up tall and straight, her chest puffed out, "IIIIIII am the AMAZING MICHI MEZUKI!!"

Sakura and the group looked at the strange women, then began to sweat as her students cheered for her. Sakura couldn't help but think to herself, _'And we WANT to form a treaty with the Rose Village?'_

Soon the other four girls were walking away, muttering to themselves, "last straw," "oh god, she's the weirdest person I've ever seen," "They made HER a Jounin?"

"HEY! Don't leave, we have to take these girls into custody! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO HELP ME!" but the small group didn't even acknowledge her shouts, "Well this is just great, how am I going to get you to the Rose Village now?"

Hanabi had it up to here with this women and her yelling so, despite her killing headache, she let her have it, "You MORON! Weren't you listening too us? We're on our way to your village! YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE US INTO CUSTEDY! And If you keep YELLING, then I'm going to break your jaw!"

This had only half the effect she wanted, it stopped the women from yelling and caused her to blush in embarrassment, but her students took her place, yelling just as fiercely, "HEY, YOU CAN'T YELL AT SENSEI LIKE THAT!"

"SHE"LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

"SHE"S A SUPER CLASS JOUNIN WITH THE BEST GENIN TEAM ON HER SIDE!"

"SHUN THE DISENTERS! SSSSHHHUUUUNNN!" this last drew the looks of all the other girls, as a small girl in the group blushed something wild, "Tee hee, I was watching Charlie The-" she was cut off by a new chant.

"SHUN THE DISENTERS! SHUN THEM!"

Sakura was tired of idiots for today, she walked up to the small team, her eyes radiating death, and she gave a well placed punch to their sensei's gut, then turned and looked at the group of girls, catching them in a Genjutsu. This had the effect of them screaming at the top of their lungs while knocking them out. The sensei in question had managed to stay awake through the punch and was now looking up at Sakura, "My Genin-"

"Are Idiots, as are you. Now we are heading to the Rose village and if its no big trouble I really don't want you to cause any trouble for us, we're supposed to be diplomats, not enemies."

The woman gave out a smile, and muttered out something before Sakura pushed her away, knocking her out, "he, I think I like you."

"Well that was weird." Said Ino in the background, not having said a word while the girls were awake.

"Yeah, Lee and Guy would love it here."

"That would be just too weird then. Lee, Guy, those chicks, Anko, AND Sakura-"

"Shut it Ino, we're leaving!"

And with a little laugh the small group was on its way to the Rose village, which wouldn't be too hard too since they had gotten directions from a women who had thought about becoming a shinobi. There was one thing that got to Sakura, _'How could a village with such lax security and awful shinobi have caught three of Konoha's best kunoichi?'_

The village was interesting in at least one way when they got first look at it, it was partially built on the sea. A massive part of the village consisted of platforms held up by great beams and pillars and connected by dozens of bridges that went from platform to platform. It was a true wok of art at that, a place of beauty and full of kunoichi like themselves, strong women who would fight just as hard as any man.

Though at the moment they were standing in front of a large gate, waiting for some one to come open it or something. And very unfortunate for Hanabi, who's headache had started to go away during to time they took to cross the island, Anko started yelling at the top of her lungs, screaming obscenities and threats, telling them to open the door or else they would feel the full wrath of the Hidden Leaf… Ino, Hanabi, and Tenten just wondered how much political damage Anko and Sakura could cause in a single afternoon.

Soon they were greeted by a young girl, no more than ten, who looked over the edge of the wall, "Um, could you try not to yell so much, I was trying to sleep."

"HEY! Open the gate"

The girl looked perplexed, open the… _'SHOOT! I fell asleep on duty again! Sensei's gunna kill me!'_ 'Oh, yeah, right way!" and the little girl was off to open the door, Sakura thinking once more how these girls could have stopped them from entering the village without them knowing.

The door soon swung out, the small girl looking timidly at them, a clipboard in her hands, "I'm sorry about that, but I do have to ask you some questions: Where are you from?

"Hidden Leaf Village."

"What are your names?"

"Anko, Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hanabi."

"What are your intentions in the village?"

"We're on a diplomatic mission, we have a treaty for your leader."

"Do you have any foreign foods, plants, or animals?"

Anko sighed, _'This is going to take a while isn't it?'_ "No"

She was right, they didn't know what to make of the village as it was, Hanabi though was interested now that her headache was almost gone, _'Wonder what this'll be like?'_

* * *

well I asked for six reveiws for the first chapter and got 17... I really am an underacheizer aren't I? Well I guess then I can expect 34 reveiws for these chapters RIGHT! wink wink, nudg nudg. I don't really expect that many but it would be nice: ewither way RRR Read, Reveiw, Repeat


	4. Chapter 4 Like a true teen

DiSClaiMer: Eye dew knot own Naruto- That's all Kishimoto's thang

_**Chuunin of the Leaf**_

'_There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.'_- Oscar Levant

"Nar-U-to!" said the voice, not yelling, just sounding annoyed and frustrated, though Shikamaru Nara almost always sounded that way.

Kakashi Hatake looked at the two, a small bead of sweat streaming down the side of his face, most of which was covered with a mask and his forehead protector, "Surly you packed more than those… sayings, in the scroll bag. I told you to pack plenty of scrolls, but I thought you had more common sense than that."

Feeling embarrassed by his teachers words Naruto grabbed the scroll Shikamaru had pulled out and squatted down on the ground pulling out and throwing the scrolls with sayings- to both Kakashi and Shikamaru seeming quite reminiscent to the boys earlier years when he was still in the academy or after becoming a Genin. "Saying, Quote, saying, western folklore, Ero-sennin's rough draft…" Finally all he had in his hands were two scrolls that he had added after grabbing the bag, mixing this one up with his actual scroll bag. Putting his hands behind his head Naruto put a grin on his face and gave a little laugh, "Hehe, I guess I just grabbed the wrong ba-"

"Naruto," interrupted Kakashi, a stern look in his.. eye, "when the mission is done your pay will be docked by half." This caused the boy to open his eyes and look quite surprised, "You are a Chuunin now: mistakes like being unprepared are fatal. Now pick up this mess and start clearing these scrolls as best you can while we walk, we will have to wait to practice your seal's for tonight and tomorrow." The man signaled the small group to start moving, slow enough that Naruto would be able to catch up, "When they are clear start working on your hand seals, both speed and chakra application."

'_Damn training!' _was all Naruto could think as he rushed to shove the scrolls back into the bag. It was the second day the group of four had been out, but already he had doe as much training as most shinobi did in a year, and would have done more if it had not been for the fact they needed to limit his clone count.

The first day, the day they had received the mission, Naruto had been ecstatic to be apart of a big mission like this, he had immediately ran back to his house to get supplies, specifically scrolls, at the command by Kakashi. While they had a mission to do Kakashi wasn't going to waste the long walk to the Village Hidden in the Mind, all the way in the Rock country.

Running back to the north gate out of Konoha they started their long march, spending much of the first day planning. And much to Naruto's despair there was plenty of light in the day for 'much of the day' to be from the time they left till an hour before they made camp… Which Kakashi made him find the proper place for and set up, dispensing water and wood gathering to Naruto while Neji became familiar with the area via Byakugan, Shikamaru worked on more planning from the info Neji got, and Kakashi cooked- a very unfortunate thing for Naruto as Kakashi liked his meat extra burnt and Neji and Shikamaru started planning for the next week of travel that they had to cook for themselves.

The mission did not start that well, yet this would seem like a godsend after another week of travel.

The next day when Kakashi had planned on Naruto working on hand written seals his little surprise had occurred. From there they started heading northwest towards the Grass country. The Hidden Mind was apparently located on a small peninsula just north of the Hidden Waterfall, yet the terrain in the surround country was so covered in rivers, giant hills, and, of course, waterfalls, that is would be far easier and faster for the foursome to enter the Rock country through the Grass Country and skirt along the border of the country, following an old road used by armies years prior, before any of the current villages were in existence.

As they walked Naruto tried to clear the little quotes he had bought off their scrolls, which was not easy and more often than not lead to the scroll getting ripped. When the job was done they had a little more than half the day in travel left, all of which Naruto was to spend on his hand seals.

Naruto's first thought was too make shadow clones, a near perfect duplicate that he had used for every kind of training possible. Seeing Naruto making the hand seals Kakashi stopped him from doing such, still moving at a quick pace through a forest of the Fire Country "No Naruto, no clones. You seem to rely on those clones a little too much and we need speed right now. We'll be slowed down enough by the fact that your going to be doing training on the way." A few minutes passed as they jumped from tree to tree, indeed slowed by Naruto who, with a grimace on his face, only had the use of his legs and chakra for travel. Kakashi broke the silence once again, "Also, from now on I don't want you to waste your energy or time making clones for pointless training."

Naruto glanced at the man questioningly, only to have Shikamaru answer for him, "He's talking about physical training like the weight lifting you do with Choji or those ridiculously hard runs you try with Guy and Lee." Getting a quick nod from Kakashi he went on, "While shadow clones are good for chakra control and other mental disciplines it will not help your body at all. It pushes the limits of what the Shadow clone can do when you practice hand seals and aiming, as those are at least partially mental. Reaction time, accuracy, and dexterity. We don't know how well these translate across a shadow clones bond with you when it is dispelled. The spars you do with people are probably a good thing to keep up though, it will give you a better knowledge over their capabilities and limits- something any squad leader needs." Naruto took it all in amazingly, he had gotten better at that in a way, as he could now keep his attention on a conversation for almost its entirety.

They kept going, jumping from tree to tree, unknowingly the only group you had kept a decent pace while at the same time not leaving the path they had set. That night, since they were still in the relative comfort of the Fire Country, they made a small fire, Kakashi once again cooking, though this time for the whole camp. Once again Naruto was set on gathering stuff, though this time it was relatively closer to camp than last time. As they were ready to turn in Kakashi and Neji looked at Naruto, "Chuunin keep the watch tonight, Jounin tomorrow." And with than Naruto set himself beside the fire.

Shikamaru looked at Naruto as he sat there and decided to go and sit with him, even though he was officially not a Chuunin anymore, he had been promoted to special jounin because of his strategic genius. He would have been a full Jounin but he had one glaring mark on his record from the last Chuunin exam he had proctored, where more than half the contestants had major injuries or were dead. He had also been forbidden from proctoring an exam again.

No, he was not a Chuunin, though Naruto was not allowed to know this. In fact only those who were deemed trustworthy were told, Kakashi and Neji included. Though what made him go and sit by the boy, both staying in silence, were not the orders to act as if he were a Chuunin when around those who were uninformed, it was the reason for those orders. The fact was that Naruto Uzumaki would never become a Jounin while he was part of the Hidden Leaf Village.

_Shikamaru, Shino, and Sakura were all called into the Hokage's office after their group's huge dinner. The lazy Nara already half asleep on his feet. Like this he would probably be as aware as Kiba or Naruto, yet it would suffice for anything important he was told. Tsunade did not look up at them for a while, finishing up the last of the three forms she had written up. The busty women looked from one to the next, never smiling because of the circumstances of the forms necessity, "I would first like to congratulate you," she said standing up, handing each of them a form with their names on it, "You are all receiving promotions, having received the ok from the village elders and counsel." _

"_You," she said as she walked around her desk, her eyes on Sakura, "are being promoted to Jounin for your superior chakra control, vast knowledge of medical jutsu as well as many other subjects which the Hokage's library has served you well for…" she moved her head in close next to Sakura's were only she and Shino's bugs could hear, "Even after hours and looks at the Scroll of Forbidden Jutsu, I'm so proud!" This made Sakura blush because of the fact that she had been found out and the compliment._

_Tsunade walked to the girls left now, looking at the mostly hidden Shino, "You have been promoted to Jounin for your exceptional skills which you have displayed on many occasions even before your first Chuunin exam from what I am told. As well it has become know to me that you wish to join the ANBU Black Ops, which I will fully support if you so choose."_

_And lastly was Shikamaru Nara, who's mind was as aware as an eleven year old Naruto now. Tsunade just shook her head and placed a hand on Shikamaru's head, jiving him a quick jolt that would keep him up for a few more hours and give him a decent headache in the morning, "YOU, Shikamaru, are being promoted to special Jounin for your amazing tactical abilities and battle leadership qualities. You would be a full jounin, but you still have a month on your probation from the Chuunin exams and the elders are reluctant to grant you the rank." Now she leaned in closer as she did for Sakura, only heard by bugs and Shikamaru, "I have been working on something to help you with your goal, as 'troublesome' as it may seem to you now. I will not let any Shinobi of my village go unavenged."_

_Once more Tsunade stood straight, walking behind her desk as she spoke, "There is an additional condition to the promotion to the I am giving you, something I feel you three must know and do." She fixed their eyes to hers once more, "There was going to be four promotions tonight, four names that I brought before the Elders and the village Counsel. The forth person being Naruto Uzumaki." The three shinobi before her kept their faces still, though it was a strain for Sakura, "The Elders immediately cast down the idea but it did not stop there, they used the opening I gave them to try and place more restrictions on him and I. While I was able to keep his freedom whole, the Elders and counsel came to one consensus: It would be to dangerous for Naruto Uzumaki to go on missions beyond that of a Chuunin and thus will be forbidden from the rank of Jounin or special Jounin indefinitely." _

_It was quiet, all that could be heard were the bugs that lived within Shino, getting a little louder with each passing moment, so it did not come as a shock to Shikamaru at least when Shino was the first to speak, "That is outrageous!" said the bug wielder with a contained anger that any normal person or someone who hadn't known him would hear as a perfectly flat voice, "Naruto has done more for this village and its people than all the commoners put together have. He has, since returning, told us all about the nine-tailed fox, yet that is nothing compared to fighting off the Shukaku, trying to bring back Sasuke Uchiha, and bringing you, lady Hokage, back to the village."_

"_Well that last one hasn't worked in his favor all the time, yet it was because of these things and more that he was able to get away so lightly. I know you will not like it, but until further notice your rank will be kept from all but those seen fit by the elders or myself. You will sign the release in your hands now so it will become a permanent mission until further notice."_

He still hadn't gotten over it. Though it had only been two days. That people from his own village could be that cruel was slightly beyond him, for he had yet to learn the full extent of the corruption as Kakashi or Naruto had, he only had a suspicion. Though he would soon be in as deep as Naruto or Sakura, they all would.

Dawn broke, with Naruto asleep. They had eventually came to the general idea that they would switch off between sleep and watch between the two and were not as tired as they might have been. Kakashi once again told Naruto to pull out a scroll so he could practice his seals, "While we are on the run I want you to make an explosive tag, a very large one. While you do know how to make the normal ones, the one I want you to make is different. Now tell me about seals, what you know and how to make them and I will add in and correct where I think you need it."

And so, before he had started to do any work with his hands Naruto was running through the forest or jumping from tree to tree while talking about seals. Oh the fun that are seals!

"Well they are symbols and writing that are placed on paper in order to get a desired effect." He felt proud at that answer, it had a Sakura bookishness to it.

And with a sigh Kakashi started, "No, Naruto, it is not that simple. I expect more than a simple answer than that. Seals are a mix of chakra and a physical medium, whether it be paper, metal, stone, or a person. If you were to just put a familiar seal on a piece of paper then it would do nothing even with chakra. You have to specify, with multiple symbols, what you want a seal to do. The more symbols the more specific and powerful a seal can be. The normal explosive tag is quite easy to make and mesmerize but the one I want…"

Shikamaru listened in on the conversation, more than once adding to what Kakashi had to say, or something that even Kakashi didn't know. Neji also became interested, as he knew plenty of seals, many of which were not known outside his family and even more that he did not know of that existed in some of the far stretched branches of the main family.

And so after a dozen attempts, Naruto finally finished what Kakashi wanted. It was, he was told, proportionally stronger than the normal explosive tags. That kind of scared Naruto, because the scroll he had was easily the same as twenty explosive tags then. Kakashi then decided it was time to move on to something new, something much more brutal.

Pulling out two pieces of paper Kakashi made the boy place them on the inside of his flask jacket. And immediately Naruto was glaring at the cycloptic jounin who had shut him off from most of his and all of the nine-tail's chakra, "What the HELL Kakashi! Why are you acting like such a huge-"

"Naruto," the one eyed man said, "you are not to question the orders of a higher ranking officer. Now move, this will help you work on your raw physical strength and speed. So unless we get into a fight I want you to keep them on until we get to the village." And with that Kakashi leapt ahead, ending any sort of conversation.

-----

That night the small group reached a small village, a single inn was available and actually nearly empty. As soon as they were settled Kakashi was off to do something, likely reading the rough draft of Jiraiya's that Naruto had managed to find yesterday, the man was just weird like that.

Down in the common room Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto all sat, ordering a small meal each. It was during this that Shikamaru brought up the subject of Naruto's pay dock, "Hehe, so it finally happened to you huh?"

Naruto looked up at the lazy-nin confused and a little annoyed, as Kakashi had not let him remove the seals, "What happened basterd?"

Raising an eyebrow at the language the boy had used, _'Not at all in a good mood.'_ He thought, but said, "Your pay, idiot. Its happened to all of us, but this is the first time for you right?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, though I didn't expect it. I mean Kakashi has never done something like that to me."

Neji gave a slight condescending smile, "Well of course not, Genin don't have their pay docked for mistakes like that. They either fail the mission or add another success to their records. Chuunin are supposed to have a lot more responsibility."

Naruto got a slightly sullen look, which quickly brightened into a smile, "So when did it happen to you guys?"

Shikamaru just shook his head, a slight smile on his face, glad that Naruto wouldn't stay down over everything that's been happening, "Well that would be my whole first week. I was late the first day, got into a fight with Ino the next two days, I dot in trouble a few times the next couple of days then for either not complying with a superior officer or because I went against orders because I thought I had a better idea. Asuma sensei didn't know if I was going to be kicked out of my house or not because I didn't bring home any money that week."

Without thinking about it the young man reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up. He hadn't been able to smoke on the run like they had been doing and was still wondering how Asuma had managed it all those times, "So, how about you Neji?" he said as he blew pout a couple of smoke rings.

The young jounin had a slight blush on his face and the other two couldn't believe their eyes. Giving a slight cough the boy said quickly, "Me and Tenten skipped out on a mission last week. That was the first time Guy ever had to dock us."

Naruto was laughing with his face on the table and even Shikamaru had a big grin on his face, "I don't know what's worse," said the Nara, "That you and Tenten skipped out together or that the first time you were ever docked was after you became a Jounin."

Neji frowned at this but Naruto picked it up, "Yeah, is Guy that weird or are you just a wuss. Even Sakura-chan had her pay docked from what I heard."

Neji, had he been anyone other than Neji, would have done something very stupid at this point or started taunting Naruto for being weak. Yet he was controlled enough to not do something stupid and knew that Naruto was above such insults. Though what is something stupid to some people is a matter of honor to others, so what Neji did next was indeed very stupid. "Uzumaki, you dare insult me like that? I take offense and I still believe that I could best you in a fight just as much as the day of our first Chuunin exam. So I challenge you to a fig-"

Neji didn't get any farther as Shikamaru, despite how troublesome it would be, had seen the nod from Naruto and they both made a dog pile on the Hyuga before he could do anything. Naruto was currently holding Neji's head in one arm at a weird angle and giving Neji a noogie with the other, while Shikamaru held his legs up and together, causing the weird angle, "Say UNCLE! SAY IT!"

Neji was a Hyuga. One of the most hard trained shinobi families ever. Yet when dog piled by a couple of his friends like that all of his training went down the drain. He flailed his arms around and tried to kick his legs out, and lastly he yelled out, "UNCLE! UNCLE! GODDAMMIT YOUR SUPPOSED TO LET ME GO! **I SAID UNCLE!**" He would never forgive himself for that moment and Naruto surly wouldn't. Nobody ever heard about it from Shikamaru though, not even Choji.

When all was said and done the group had to pay for a chair, which came from Naruto's pocket, and they were now outside the small village with Naruto facing Neji, who's solid white eyes bulged with veins. Naruto simply fell back into a stance wondering how good Neji had gotten since the last fight. Neither of the fighters felt very safe knowing that Shikamaru was the only one watching over them, but they each had points to prove.

Moving forward Naruto punched out, only to have Neji knock him away like a rag doll. Jumping up Naruto managed a flip and tried to elbow back into Neji, simply meeting Neji's knee. "Hey, take this for real, you could have his my back up there with your Gentle Fist!"

Neji just raised an eyebrow and had his eye's widen a little, "Naruto, you have yet to remove the seals Kakashi put on you. Besides I'm not going to seal your chakra points, not with the nine-tails being so unstable."

"AHHH! That's just bull!" though he did note he had forgotten to take them off. So once more they faced each other, this time when Naruto attacked it was much faster than Neji had anticipated so he was only just able to kick the arm away with his left and strike at Naruto's shoulder with his right, which Naruto avoided by leaning back, then letting himself fall back and kick up at Neji's midsection. Neji saw the attack almost before it was there, being able to see and recognize how Naruto's muscles were moving and where he pushed his chakra. Jumping back Neji grabbed a kunai from his waist pouch and threw it straight at the blond boy who was still rising.

But the weapon never hit as Naruto met metal with wind and immediately sent a condensed burst of air straight for the genius Hyuga, knocking him back, from which he immediately flipped and brought up his arm in order to knock away Naruto's fist and with the other hand grabbed Naruto's left and brought his own left up for a hit at Naruto's face. It was intercepted though and the two started to grapple with each other. Surprisingly they were near evenly matched in strength. Yet Neji had the advantage.

With a smirk Neji started to push chakra out of his body and started to spin his body, surprisingly with Naruto still holding on. That did not last long though and Naruto was soon ejected with enough force to kill a lesser man. Hitting a tree Naruto gave a groan and a few cuss words. Neji's spin stopped and he couldn't help but send a glance mixed with both worry and smugness. Naruto got up though, and was already running.

To Neji's surprise Naruto formed the Rasengan in both his hands while making an invisible shield of wind in front if himself. _'Ingenious, he has not only mastered an A-rank jutsu to the point where he can use two at once, but he is at the same time manipulating the wind and air around him to make up for the jutsu's faults and keep himself protected!'_

Neji wasn't called a genius for nothing, yet the wind he was manipulating was not only to protect himself but to stop Neji from a preemptive strike. For as he neared Neji felt the cool wind surround his wrist and too nearly too late did he realize that Naruto was going to walk straight through his defenses. Just in time did he push the chakra out of his body, seemingly making wind off his boy itself. He span, using an advanced version of the Kaiten.

Right before they met a single thought went through the mind of Shikamaru, _'Hmm, I guess there was a reason I'm not allowed to oversee any fights.'_

_-----_

Carrying a stack of papers that almost looked like research Kakashi walked up the room that he would be sharing with the others, more than a little surprised that the boys were not downstairs. More specifically that Naruto was not down there. _'Well I have been pretty hard on him… But he needs to be ready. As long as he doesn't do anything stupid it will be fine.'_ As he walked in the room he saw that they were not there. Soon after the sound of a large explosion and a creeping feeling in his gut, "We're doomed."

-----

Naruto sat up and looked at the handiwork that he and Neji had wrought, feeling oddly proud. Across from him, nearly fifty feet, Neji was also sitting up and, though it would never show on his face and he would never say it, he too felt proud. That scarred him. Shikamaru Nara Just stared, a new cigarette in his mouth as he looked at the sight. Almost all the earth was upturned and there was a giant crater, which Naruto and Neji both sat in, with three smaller ones inside that one. Though there were not many al the trees in the area were uprooted and one was set ablaze.

"You know, we might want to get out of here BEFORE Kakashi shows up."

Too late. Though he had seen worse done by a single person he still had to look at it in awe, "Wherever you go you just seem to bring a wave of destruction." Giving a sigh he walked with them back to the inn, dealing out punishment as they went. "Neji, Shikamaru, Naruto you will be reported to the Hokage upon return to Konoha, she will decide your punishment. I do believe you are still on probation Shikamaru so expect nothing less then possible suspension if this mission does not go off smoothly. You Naruto will receive no pay as well."

Rounding on the man whom he had come to see as family Naruto couldn't help but let loose, "What!? Why? There were there as well and I wasn't fighting myself!"

"Kakashi," said Neji, "he's right I am just as guilty here. If anything-"

"No Neji, this is between my student and me. Whatever Tsunade-sama thinks is necessary for you will be fine, but Naruto must learn that he cannot be the same person he was when he was a Genin. While teamwork is the foundation of a shinobi and maybe one of the most important aspects, but he must still be able to follow orders. You, Naruto," he said turning on the former Genin, "must be ready for the day that you are going to be in charge of a team of your own. So right now we hold a court martial. I charge you with instigating a fight with Neji Hyuga, we would only need to take into count your previous team members like Sai and Sasuke, abandoning your post back at the inn, for I did not give you permission to leave, not complying with a superior officer, for I told you not to remove the seals I gave you until we reached our destination and now they are useless, and unorderly conduct for fighting in the inn and destroying property."

Narrowing his one visible eye he went on, "And just like that you are guilty. You need to be strong enough for the day that someone actually tries to bring those charges against you. The day they try to take your livelihood." And then suddenly, "What would you do Naruto if you knew you could never become a Jounin?"

Naruto had slowly been getting a snarl, the man was being unreasonable. If he had been thinking straight then he would have know that this was nothing like Kakashi, he would have known that something was wrong if he would look past the mans words. The question caught him off guard none the less, "That wouldn't happen, the crone would never allow it too."

Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's ignorance, _'He has to learn. He needs to become strong enough for the truth.'_ And with that he walked away, hating himself for laughing at the boy, for being like he was. Knowing that he more than deserved the words Naruto yelled after him as he walked away.

-----

The next day passed in painful quiet and they passed into the Grass Country a few hours before dusk, having made much better time since Naruto had not trained. This day was the worst day far, for Naruto wanted to talk to Kakashi, to apologize, but he couldn't make himself do it, he knew he had done nothing to deserve the treatment the man had been giving him. Kakashi also wanted to apologize, yet he knew what he had to do and he could not change that.

The only words passed between the group were small bits of planning from Shikamaru and Kakashi telling Naruto that Chuunin kept watch tonight, the Jounin had had last night while they stayed at the inn.

In the morning they set off hoping to make it to the other side of the Grass Country before mid day. It was just as quiet as the day before, though Naruto felt his willpower ebbing away and he was ready to apologize for what was said and what he did. He slowly made his way next to Kakashi, who was leading right now. For a few minutes he just walked beside him, having become all arid plains with tall grass since before entering the Grass Country, without saying a word. Finally though he started, "Kakashi-sensei," he said getting the mans attention, "listen, about yester-"

Naruto's world was rocked as Kakashi lunged at the boy, taking him down to ground, hidden well behind the tall grass all around the area. "WHAT THE HE-"

"Be quiet Naruto," whispered the jounin, "we're under attack." Indeed, when Naruto had gotten the mans attention he saw the glint of the sun off the enemies kunai. Crawling off the boy he stayed low and turned his head from left to right. He could see Neji and Shikamaru from here, also well hidden in the tall grass, Neji telling Shikamaru were the enemy was and signaling to Kakashi: they were surrounded by at least eight individuals.

Naruto saw this too and quickly made the hand signs for his shadow clones, creating four, disguising three as his teammates and hiding them under the grass like they were, then having them use substitution jutsu's on the originals. They all stood up slowly, the Kakashi clone raised its hands and calling out, "We are from Konoha and come in peace. Please show yourself, we will comply with you." The Naruto clone was crouched down, peering from left to right like the original might have done three years ago. Neji's had dropped back into a defensive position Naruto had seen the man use before. Lastly was Shikamaru's, which had a ingle kunai in its grasp at its waist while looking around in a calculative way (that's what he was trying to pull off anyway).

Kakashi suddenly felt very bad for the hard time he had been putting Naruto through the past few days. The boy was truly gifted, he had had the presence of mind to not only create disguised clones, but by using the substitution jutsu's he had managed to gather their squad together for. They had surprise on their side now.

A man came forward, wearing elegant robes that didn't seem to match with his chosen profession, but he did have the forehead protector on his waist as a belt, though the village couldn't be seen yet. He made a hand gesture and three others came out, hiding the other team still, "Well then, what do we have here? Why do you come onto our lands? Your kind are not welcome here any longer."

Naruto's clone yelled out, "What's that supposed to mean? 'YOUR KIND?'"

The Kakashi clone gave an angry glance at the clone, "Be quiet Naruto, let me handle this." The clone looked back up and asked then, "I must ask as well though, what do you mean?"

"You people from the Leaf Village." He said, his face contorting in disgust, "You inbred fools are no longer welcome here."

"Oh, I was under the impression that these lands belonged to the Grass Country. Has that changed or has the Grass's Daimyo decided to pull out of the alliance?"

"Fool, the Hidden Grass Village runs this country, the Daimyo is dead. After you fools had the audacity too… I can't let you leave here alive, the Grass is through with the struggling to feel the sun while the Leaf looms above us, taking all the glory and all the power in this world." And with that they attacked.

Kakashi's clone ran forward, grabbing three shuriken in each hand. It jumped up above the lead nin… and kept going, throwing its shuriken at one of the nin that was hidden, killing the boy, most likely a Genin, who had assumed his was safe where he was. The leader following his movements.

The others had gathered and face back to back to back in a triangular formation, defending from kunai as they came for them and preparing for the remaining three shinobi who were in the open to converge on them. All three took on one of the clones, who either blocked or dodged their first strikes and hit back, each possessing the same speed as the original Naruto, which was very good compared to most shinobi. The Naruto clone actually managed to kill his target on the first strike, crushing the cartilage of the throat with a quick chop of his hand, causing the man to suffocate and drown in his own blood. The other two didn't take too long either, as they all had enough pent up rage in them from Naruto to be as merciless as they wanted, the Naruto clone blocking any kunai or shuriken that were thrown their way. Then they were off to deal with the second team

The Kakashi clone, as soon as it had killed the boy, had turned to meet the leader he had ignored for the first killing blow, and was surprised to find he had not moved yet, only holding his hands in a seal, muttering under his breath. Suddenly he felt something brush across his leg, saw something move beneath the grass out of the corner of his eye, heard a growl. And then he felt them, biting down on his right shoulder and one of his legs, the last digging its claws into his back, though it did not dispel, it focused itself not to. "What's this, a genjutsu?" it said as it looked down and saw a tiger, one that seemed to be made of mist and light, yet it felt like it was real

"My, my, of course not." Her walked up to the clone, which was being held firmly in place and spit in its eye, "Unlike you brutes in the Leaf, we in the Grass do not see the point in pure military might. We are open to experiments and many different ways of jutsu and abilities. I, like others in my clan and caste, practice the mystic arts. We use chakra and life's energies to control things to a more complete level." With another gesture the claws dug deeper into his skin, "Where you may create a ball of fire, we may control that fire with a mastery beyond throwing it around. Where you create illusions that make you feel pain, the pain and wounds are whole. I am not afraid to use the ancient spirits and creatures, unlike you who would forbid the dead to live once more. Our power is limitless" He came to the clone, only to see it smiling.

"I see, your power is limitless. Then why have you not even struck me once?"

And with that the clone was gone, the spirit beasts that the man called falling to their feet. Turning as swiftly as he could he was only able to meet a kunai as it struck him in the heart, the true Kakashi looking him eye for eye, the Sharingan blazing on his left. And with that the last of their would be assailants died, the others having been hunted down by the clones and their lives taken.

Kakashi looked down at the man, scared, as scared as he had been when ROOT had attacked Naruto. _'The Grass has betrayed us… Why would that be? And that jutsu, what was it… I'll have to practice with it some other time.'_ Looking over at the group of young men who were rising from the tall grass. He yelled over to Naruto, "Perfectly executed. Did any of the clones pick up any information?"

Giving a small sneer, Naruto told him what the man had said about the Grass Daimyo, about the Grass Village thriving, and about the jutsu as well. None of the others had said anything before they were killed though.

"Excellently done."

"Psstt, as long as the jobs done. Not like you really care otherwise." He said, forgetting the apology he was going to give in the adrenaline.

"Naruto," he said as he covered his eye and deciding to tell Naruto what he could, "I do owe you an implantation, for these past few days, but there is a lot I can't tell you, just don't hate me for this. You need to learn."

"What do I need to learn?" he said suddenly, "WHY do I need to learn? For the past few days you have been unreasonable in everything you've done, whether it was my training so far, which has slowed us down, or the 'court martial' you gave me. And all you will say is that I have to learn. I want more than a few answers, I don't want to be left in the dark like that."

Kakashi had to give a sigh, _'I would Naruto, I would tell you everything. But all I can do now is prepare you for the things I can't tell you.' _"Tonight Naruto, tonight. But right now we need to move. Neji, was there anyone else out there?"

"No, I think that they just stumbled upon us. So the Grass could find out about us in a week or a day or already know we're here."

"All the more reason to keep moving. After a move like this I am worried about what we will meet at the border, but we must cross and come as legitimate ambassadors. Lets move out."

Naruto didn't know what to say, what to think, what to do… _'Tonight'_

-----

There was no fire this night, they all sat there until night fell, all together they sat and they talked through the night, now in the Rock country. They had encountered no resistance at the border, in fact they hadn't realized they had crossed the border until they noticed that the land was changing as they neared the great mountain chains that gave the country its name. The great rocky hills and gigantic mountains that looked more like blades than mountains were every were to be seen, with a few forest populating the valleys. As soon as they hit this environment they turned north and soon found the road they sought, which would lead them up to the northern coast of the continent,

It was a sight Kakashi had only seen once in his entire career, the last mission he had ever gone on with Rin and the forth before he had become Hokage and she had… it had been so long since he thought on it all, he did not want to remember right then.

So here they sat, talking, "What would you like to know Naruto?"

"Everything!" said the boy quite vehemently, "There is something I don't know, I know that much, something your not telling me. I want to know why your acting like you are? Why all the sudden training when we started the mission, training that slowed us down and possibly led us straight into that attack? Why such the big deal over my punishment and that 'court martial' lesson you gave back there? WHY-"

"Enough Naruto!" cut Naruto, surprisingly coming from Shikamaru, a smoke in his mouth, "There has been a lot happening recently, things that are above you or me."

Giving the smoking shinobi a quick glance Kakashi took his place, "He's right. But I will answer what I can. As I have been saying, you need to be ready. For the corruption in the Leaf and the rest of the world. You need to be ready for any let downs you may face, both in and outside of our village. And you need to be ready for this mission."

Naruto just looked off into nothing, "Why am I on this mission?"

"Because, there are not many shinobi with your talent, your ingenuity, or your over all power. Naruto, let me tell you right now, you deserve to be a Jounin more than anyone else I know, and today just further proved that to me."

Looking at the man through the dark he asked, "So that whole pay dock thing and all that was to help prepare me for the world?"

"That and because you're a Chuunin now, you should be smarter than that. I can't even start to tell you the number of times I wanted to do that, both to you and my own former teammates."

Sulking a little Naruto asked again, "And this secret you have, why can't you tell me?"

"Those are orders I have received from the Hokage herself. I can not repeat them."

As they talked Kakashi couldn't help but remember his little 'chat' with the Hokage. Her telling him the attempt to have Naruto raised to Jounin and the end result. His out break on how Naruto had done so much for the village and how talented he was and how unjust it was to do such a thing. He had been outraged, he still was, but he could do nothing. There was so much he wanted to say, yet a shinobi needed to have a firm handle on their emotions.

-----

It took them two days to skirt up the road and reach the coast, but it was well worth it. Not only did they encounter no one, the sight was perfect. For miles and miles you could see nothing but clear blue sky and water. The smell of the sea filled their nostrils and they could hear the sound of gulls from above them.

Naruto seemed to be in a much better mood, but still a little disgruntled. They had not kept on with his training, as Kakashi admitted they would need the time they gained and the impracticality of it all. Kakashi just hoped that Naruto would be enough as he was.

They stayed only briefly before heading due east. In a few hours they were there. The first sight was breath taking, as giant stone walls appeared before them, higher than the walls that protected Konoha and much more elegant than the ones around their home village.

There was no one outside the gate, no one apon the walls, no one in sight at all. Kakashi was stumped until he felt the hands around his ankle's. Immediately he let himself fall forward and bracing himself pulled the enemy up with his legs, fliping them over his body as he rose to his feet. The man rose slowly, though not out of pain, only his own arrogance, "Very well, you may enter." And with that he turned and signaled to… there was still no one there that Kakashi could see without the sharinagan, but the gate swung open none th less.

He looked back though and saw three more pits where the others had managed to uproot their opponents, Naruto's having replaced him when he was pulled under, Shikamaru's sporting a circular burn on his forehead and Neji's having been pulled up before he was ever toutched.

"Before you may enter, Kakshi Hatake," said the man, who sported a bown flak jaket, a full head of grey hair, and a nose slightly too big for his face, "we must identify your fellow Jounin and Genin here." Said the man whom he had pulled up. The man smirked when he saw Naruto's scowl but said nothing else.

"This is Neji Hyuga, Jounin of the Leaf, Shikamaru Nara, a Chuunin of the Leaf, and Naruto Uzumaki, Chuunin of the Leaf. You already seem to know me though."

"Well of course I do, I was a shinobi of the Rock during the last was, we have fought against each other before." A big grin came to the mans face, "Tell me, do you still have that scar on your back that I gave you? I still have the one you gave me."

At this Kakashi rolled his shoulders uncomftorably, he did indeed remember this man now. _'He could make things difficult for me.'_ "Well we are not enemies today, I come with my team to offer a peace treaty with the Village Hidden in the Mind. All we ask is to speak with your leader."

"Yes, yes, yes. Though itmay take a littlewhile, we are very busy and he more than any of us. Perhapes we may have a chance to talk while you're here, remember old times long past. I do wish to see that amazing eye of yours again, and that wonderful chakra blade…"

Naruto had a lot on his mind now, none of it that bad really, _'All those jutsu, strong opponants, and pleanty of different foods! THIS IS HEAVEN!'_ He had no idea of the hell it would be.


	5. Chapter 5 The Lives of Demons and Saints

oturaN now ton od I :remialcsid eht s'ereh dna yad sdrawkcab s'yadot

_**Chuunin of the Leaf**_

"_The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided."_

"My lord, a group of men from the Hidden Leaf has arrived, as you expected. Though it seems there is a Neji Hyuga here as well." The man was bowed down low, practically groveling to the figure that was hunched over in his chair, "What would my lord Hyuga have me do?"

Standing up, the white eyed nuke-nin looked down at the man in front of him, saying in a crackly voice, "_Leave me, I must think on this. I am long separated from my family."_ As the small, insignificant man left the room the lord Burana Hyuga said to himself, _"What shall happen now? Neji Hyuga. NNNEEEJJJIII." _He said as if tasting the name as it rolled off his tongue, _"Do they know of me already? Have they sent a member of the main house after me? HHMMMMM this will be very interesting. I shall play your game family, as well as yours Hokage, I was very well versed in the games of intrigue and war when I left… let us see if I can still play. KUKUKUKku…"_ and so the Lord of the mind began to play his game, holding the three most powerful pieces on the board.

-----

"SHIZUNE!" yelled the lady Hokage, "WHERE ARE THOSE FILES?"

"SECOND DRAWR DOWN."

"Lady Hokage, we need permission to take out more money for the-"

"Why hasn't the paper been signed yet, the counsel gave it to you a week ago. Now if Saratobi…"

"TSUNADE-SAMA! WHERES THE PROGRESS REPORT FOR TEAMS FOUR AND SIX?"

"I THINK WE JUST MOVED IT UNDER FAILED MISSIONS WITH NARUTO'S FILE! Now I have some issues to discuss before I sign that."

"But Hokage-sama, we need funding for…"

"New mission just in, it's a B rank with high priority from the Daimyo's brother. He needs…"

"Lady Tsunade, the Elders want a meeting for three O'clock.

"TSUNADE I FOUND NARUTO'S FILE AND TEAM SIX'S BUT THERE IS NOTHING FOR TEAM FOUR UNDER FAILED MISSIONS! WHERE ELSE SHOULD I LOOK?"

"Move that to four and it should be fine. DID YOU TRY IN MISSIONS IN PROGRESS UNDER THE NAME TEAM-"

"Hokage, about the extra money needed-

"WAIT I WAS HERE FIRST!"

"WHAT WAS THAT NAME TSUNADE?"

"YAMAMOCHI- TEAM YAMAMOCHI! I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS FIRST! You will get half what your asking and you will go and find someone with more time to complain too. I told you I had some questions for the counsel. SHIZUNE! I NEED TEAM EBISU'S PROGRESS REPORT ALSO!"

"YOU ALREADY HAVE IT, CHECK THE RIGHT CORNER OF YOUR DESK!"

"UPPER OR LOWER?"

"UPPER!"

And so it was another day at the office… BEFORE Tsunade kicked them out so she could get more work done.

Tsunade, the fifth Hokage over the Hidden Leaf Village. It was a hard job, running a shinobi village, especially during such a time. Though Orochimaru was reported as dead they still received reports daily from her personal network of informants, as well as Jiraiya's that confirmed the truth of the matter, that he was alive and on the move. If this wasn't enough, that a man who had attacked the village and killed its Hokage was alive, there was always the Akatsuki to help keep her up at night.

The Akatsuki were a group of nine men and women who were after the Jinchuuriki, for some reason or another. They even had missing nin like Itachi Uchiha, who was also reported killed, in their ranks, making them a prime target for the Leaf, out of fear for its secrets being released to the highest bidder or used against them.

Problems with running the village, the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, fighting with the elders, having to deal with the bickering in the village counsel, dealing with the blatantly corrupt Danzou, some mysterious problem within the Hyuga Clan that they would not make her privy too, and to top it all off the appearance of three new villages which they knew next to nothing about. Needless to say it all added up, and Tsunade was nearing her breaking point. She had already put who her sixth would be in her will, she was that worried.

Breathing in deeply, running her fingers through her hair she blocked out everything around her… "LADY HOKAGE! HALF WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO FINISH OUR WORK!"

"OUT! OUTOUTOUTOUTOUTOUT! **OUT ****NOW!" **

'_That felt good. It always does!'_ she though to herself. Quietly coming into the room Shizune placed three large folders on her desk, "I'm impressed, you made it a full fifteen minutes longer than yesterday."

"Is it bad when you have to bet against yourself in order to get work done?"

"Hey, you got the work done and nobody got hurt this time." Shizune's smile was always friendly, her sister at heart, "Now about the meeting with the elders-" yet sisters could be cruel, "If you move it to four then you might have to drag the counsel meeting a little past six to get everything in."

"Yes, yes. What new information do we have about the villages?"

"Nothing from the Mind, Rose, or Fist. But it seems that people are gathering at the sound again, and not just shinobi, but weapon makers, arrow fletchers, leather tanners, and even a few armor makers who think they can get a shinobi into those metal contraptions." This earned a little laugh from Tsunade, who HAD worn those metal contraptions at one time, spending loads of money from her grandfathers will, "As well we have received a… disturbing, message from the Grass Village."

"Really, has the Rock begun to fortify their borders again?" asked the blond Hokage, as she started to fold a marriage proposal from some lord who didn't know how old she actually was.

"No it seems that the Daimyo of the Grass country has been killed."

"So their asking for aid?" a few more folds and it would be air ready.

"N-no. They sent a message out. They are claiming they did it."

And it flew as Tsunade gave a jerking movement from the shock, and out the window it went, a few loud cuss' heard from below, "WHAT?! You mean they admit to it?"

"Yes, though the assassination teams never made it back to the village, they were, all eight of them, found dead in a field about three hours from the Daimyo's manor. They also sent a proclamation removing themselves from the alliance with us, The Mist, Sand, Rain, and Waterfall."

"Hm, any word from the Rain or Waterfall?" asked Tsunade as she leaned out the window to see who she hit.

"The Rain seems pretty confident that its boarder with the Fire and Wind Countries will be sufficient protection for now, but the Waterfall is requesting aid from the other countries of the alliance in order to protect its boarder with the Rock and be poised for an attack on or by the Grass."

"Send word NOT to attack and that when we have a chance we will send aid to help guard her boarders, they are an important barrier with the Rock that we cannot lose, they are the buffer between the two of us. I can not see the Rock turning down the opportunity to use the Grass as a means to an end or take this time of uncertainty in order to grab a hold of either the Waterfall or the Rain. Is there any news from up north that may suggest an alliance is in place between the Rock and Cloud Villages?"

"Nothing, but," the woman was hesitant here, "it seems TOO quiet. There is no news from the Cloud other than the fact of the Fist Village and all of our informants in the metal country have gone quiet. If they are still there then they may have betrayed us or been isolated from the world by either the Sound or Cloud."

"All our informants? EVERY SINGLE ONE!" Tsunade, half hanging out the window, her rear sticking in the air, was half turned at the women, her eyes wide in shock, "That's not possible, unless they have been conquered or simple massacred then its impossible!"

"That's how it is lady Tsunade. I said it was too quiet and I think that there has been some move. With the betrayal of the Grass it will be harder for us to detect the movement of the Rock as well and we have men in both the Rock and Grass whom may have been captured or compromised by this."

Sitting down Tsunade let out a sigh, "The ramifications of this are too much for us to think of here, it will have to be raised before the counsel. What we need to do now is think of a way to get around them and spit Danzou in the eye... or so to speak."

-----

Still clutching his throbbing eye, Danzou entered his base of operations. In the hand over his eye was the offending piece of material. Blinking a few times he removed his hand and opened the piece of paper he had crumpled up and read it's contents, "AHHHHHHHAHH TSUNADE! YOU!" he yelled at a man in uniform, an ANBU mask on his face, "Take this and find a way to make that INFERNAL WOMEN PAY!" and he threw the evil piece of paper at the man, who caught it mid air.

"Of course Danzou-sama." Said the man with a bow and left.

As the one armed, one eyes, and nearly purple Danzou stalked down the halls of the building he started to launch orders out in every direction when he saw a ANBU not doing something, "Bring me any recovered documents today, and if there is anything they will miss this time I WILL KILL YOU! That is your last warning! You send for Forsu, NOW! You, get me a bottle of Saké. Go fetch me a map. Find I want the final report on the Nine-tailed brats fights and battle date on my desk by tomorrow morning or you will be placed on a recruitment team in The Bloody Mist Village!"

Danzou, the head of the Counsel of Shinobi and Leader of the formerly disbanded ROOT division of the ANBU Black Ops. It was a heard job, trying to manipulate an entire Shinobi Village, especially during such trying times.

Orochimaru was hindering his efforts to recruit people, despite the claim that he was dead Danzou knew differently. If the people knew he was still alive then more people may flock to his 'cause.' Then their was the Akatsuki, trying to gather power, putting Danzou in a very awkward position of wanting the Jinchuuriki of the Leaf, the damn Naruto Uzumaki, dead and not wanting Akatsuki, who are more than capable and willing to kill him for their own ends, to gain power that he might not be able to over come without grievous cost to himself and the Leaf.

Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Tsunade, fighting with the elders, and that damn problem with Hiashi Hyuga and the rest of the liberal Hyuga's in the clan. To top it all off there was the three new villages that… He would worry about the rest later, for right now his pawn had entered the room.

"Forsu, so nice of you to show up. Took your time did you?"

"I came as soon as I was free of that dammed Hiashi and his questions. What is it that was so urgent that I had to leave, Hiashi will only be more suspicious."

"I want to know what you are doing in there? I gave you an order, place a pawn on the head of the clan and find a way to fill the gap between Main and Branch families. I need the aid of the Hyuga behind me before I can make my move and I need you to be manipulating them to have control over them. WHY is Hinata Hyuga not named heir apparent yet? I am starting to wonder if my trust in you after gaining her trust so easily was misplaced." And then Danzou made a single seal with his hands.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" pain rocked Forsu's world as something unknown to any member of the main house occurred.

"I took you into my confidence, I gave you a chance to have a clan undivided where your sister would not be faced with prejudice and hate and the Leaf would flourish. All I asked in return were a few of your secrets and your OBIDIANCE!" he let the seal go and turned away from the man, who was on his knee's now, panting as he clutched the back of his head, the hair pushed out of the way so one would have seen the caged bird, normally hidden by his long hair. "Now I want to see some movement on your part. New things have occurred. I have received news that the Grass has betrayed the Alliance, killing off the countries Daimyo. I am lucky enough to have a connection in the Rock village and we may be able to help forge a new, stronger alliance if we gather the support of the Rock, Cloud, Grass and other smaller villages. By allying ourselves like this we have a chance to uproot the dying tree that Konoha has become and let a new stronger one take its place. We can do this by attacking from within as they attack from without. But I NEED the Hyuga."

Standing up slowly, his hair once again hiding the curse seal on the back of his head, Forsu answered, "Of course it will be done. But Hiashi has been doing something, he has made it possible that one or both of the girls are not present in the village during the full moon. We have no way of stopping it either."

"You must find a way to keep the girls in the village until the full moon, without telling them or anyone else about Lord Hyuga's Law?" he laughed at the irony of the statement, "Simply tell the elders to kidnap the girls then. It fills the requirements and prevents the law from being broken. If Tsunade asks about the girls whereabouts then tell her that the clan has seen fit to suspend them from duty for a short period of time for some reason or another and that this was the only most efficient means to meet that end."

"I shall do it my lord. I must go now though, 'Lord Hyuga' said that the Elders would be meeting in soon and I will have the perfect opportunity to put it forth then."

"Yes." And as the man turned away he added, "Oh, and do recommend that Hiashi should be the one to take them, since it is his responsibility as clan head to secure an heir."

As Forsu left he passed only one of the other ROOT members, himself one of the recruited members, not an original. The man or women, who could tell, was going through a few files, most likely looking for some paper Danzou would want. But soon Forsu was gone, heading for the clan hall where he would put forth the mans idea.

'_He is truly a genius. As sadistic as they come, but a genius none the less.'_ Finally he arrived and made his way unannounced to the large room where the elders met. Almost all who were privileged enough to sit in were already present and it did not appear to have started yet.

All the men and women sat in a circle, sitting upon large pillows, Hiashi's raised a little off the ground with a little platform. Soon they had begun, talking and debating the miniscule facts of the day, until they finally came to the topic of the heir.

"It is strange," posed Forsu, "that every full moon the Hokage has sent one or both of the girls away from the village on missions. It is enough to make me think that _someone_ has broken our law."

"Forsu," came his own father, "this is the circle of elders, we are all here to help the clan, not hinder it like the lesser clans. No one here would do such a thing."

"Indeed, perhaps you are right. It could all be happenstance, but I believe a more direct approach to this situation is required, something that would not break the law and only help the clan to grow."

"And what are you proposing Forsu?" asked Hiashi.

"I believe that when the girls return from their current missions we should find a way to have them suspended from active duty. Or the hold them. It may seem extreme, but it would be well to know that they would be safe and the clans future secure if we had them detained temporarily."

"Are you suggesting we arrest my daughters?" said the lord Hyuga, a deadly gleam in his eyes.

"No, to arrest them we would need permission from the Hokage. But if they were to, say, go missing. As wrong as it may sound, the best word would be to kidnap them."

There was an immediate response to this, "MY PEOPLE, please calm down. I see no alternative. If we go on as we are then who knows how long this will take. So I put forth the right to call the Vote. Who here would support this endeavor and the clan's prosperity." And slowly they raised their hands, Hiashi and his supporters never moving. All they needed was a three forth majority to make it so. Only twenty two of the twenty four needed raised their hands, Hiashi had won, but slowly, with pained glances at Hiashi the others began to move, thirty hands in total then, Hiashi, who's status made his vote count for two, the only one with his hand not raised.

"We are tired of this Hiashi, we need an heir. If you will not do this then it is time for a new clan head. Now, as your friend, I ask you to raise your hand so we will know you are willing to put the clan before all else." And, with the utmost reluctance, Hiashi raised his hand.

"Very good, I thank you all. I also put it forth that Hiashi be the one to ensure their presence here in the compound, something I know he will not refuse."

"I shall see to it myself. But I tell you now, this is a mistake."

"Hiashi, stop pouting like some child, just because you do not agree with everything we say."

"We are through for this night." And with that they all left, taking papers and documents for them all.

Forsu once again made his way to the Roots of Konoha, entering long enough to hand the documents he had received to one of the ROOT members he saw, "Child, take these to Danzou and tell him it all went as planned." And with that left.

The ROOT member made his way through the halls, pulling out a crumpled paper he had had thrown at him earlier, making his way, not for Danzou, but the closest door he could find. When out of the small building the ROOT member jumped up on to a roof top, making its way to the Hokage's Tower. There he was permitted to see the Hokage, before she left to meet the elders.

"What can I do for you… what's your name again?"

Taking off his mask and giving a little smile Sai threw her a crumpled piece of paper, "You should watch who your hitting with those paper airplanes." He said, as she read the proposal she had thrown out earlier.

A slight blush coming to the woman's face, "You weren't the one I hit... were you?"

"Nope," he said as his smile grew even more, "I guess you hit the Cyclops with this one, he seemed to be rubbing his eye quite a bit. I also received these as I was leaving. You are right, there is a Hyuga working with him. Actually more than one from what I learned and this isn't the first time."

"Oh?" she asked flattening the proposal out and reforming the paper airplane, wanting to keep something that had done so much good, "When was the first time?"

"His sensei. According to you, the elders said the last time there had been a traitorous Hyuga was when they had been Genin. Well they were right, the last time there was a traitor it was when Burana Hyuga, the sensei to Danzou's Genin team, all of whom died before his betrayal. The man had been Danzou's personal mentor and teacher. Even before he was a Genin in fact, that was part of the reason why he received Burana as his sensei. But here's the catch, Danzou tried to go with him and even today he might be in communication with the man, but we cannot find how or where."

"'We?'"

"Me and Captain Yamato. While I have been spying into ROOT, Yamato has been trying to find anything he could on the man's past. Danzou was brought up twice under the third Hokage for communicating with the missing nin, but no one could find any proof. I believe it is safe to say the man is still alive."

"Hmmm, thank you, though I cannot bring up such charges unless I have more than full incriminating evidence. And you say you were given this packet by a HYUGA?" she quickly opened it up and scanned what it said, "There is nothing incriminating here, this is all information on the clan meeting, things that Danzou would learn in the meeting of the Counsel tonight. Besides it would be bad for me if I said I stole them from him. In fact unless I have incriminating evidence I can't bring anything up, the elders have asked me to 'stand down' when it comes to the issue of Danzou. Just 'leave it to them.'" And only then did she realize she might be late for her meeting with the old fools, "We will talk later. Excellent work so far."

Standing up Tsunade rushed down the hallways of the Hokage's Tower, towards the room where the elders would be meeting her. As soon as she entered the room they caught her with their eyes, daring her to make an excuse for being late, as if she were a simple Genin.

"Well, now that you have finally arrived," said the man, who wore black framed glasses and robes of forest green and the most pure white cloth one had ever seen, sitting on a little couch with his female opposite of the Elders across from a set of chairs "we may be able to make some progress. Lets start with the small things and work from there. Koharu seems quite adamant of this first couple of issues."

Koharu, the elderly female in the room gave a nod. She was, if anything, majestic. She wore her hair in a single bun upon her head and robes of blue and green in a memorizing combination, and still it was how carried herself with the grace that Tsunade would never have that made her all the more imposing, "Thank you Hamura." She said as Tsunade took a seat across from them, "Firstly I must insist you do something about Jiraiya again. Before he left today he was caught spying in the baths and three different women insist they actually saw him in their houses!"

"If I could I would lock that idiot up for good, yet he's to valuable and too powerful not to use. What else was there that you seem to want to talk of so much?"

"We believe," started the older women, "we may be able to have a powerful ally in the Grass. The Daimyo there was recently widowed and you are promised to no one. So we-"

Cutting with quick words Tsunade cut that dream short, "As _happy_ as I am that you are thinking of my love life in such a way." Glaring at the women who held her head even higher than normal, "I must be the one to inform you that the Daimyo of the Grass country was assassinated less than a week back."

Hamaru leaned his head back, peering at Tsunade through his glasses as if trying to read her, "Has the Hidden Grass caught the perpetrators yet?"

"No" she said, shaking her head, "They are the ones who did it. They sent out a proclamation that we received today, taking credit for the assassination and pulling out of the alliance with us and the other countries."

"Why would they do something like this? Why now?" asked the older women.

"We know not, but we hope that any shinobi we have in the village and surrounding country may be able to give us answers soon. As well the Waterfall has requested man power to help secure its border with the Rock. They seem confident in their ability to challenge the Grass, though if the Rock were to make a move then we MUST aid them."

"We cannot send men now, if the grass were to move with the support of the Rock behind them then we would not want to be left short of shinobi. Perhaps we could recommend the Mist so send people, they do not share a boarder with the Rock and would be able to give the boarder Nations a fighting chance as we prepare for war-"

"NO, I do not want to jump straight to that conclusion. We will avoid war at all cost's. Let's move on to something else."

"Tsunade, we CANNOT ignore the possibility of war." Said Koharu with short biting words.

"I DON'T WANT WAR TO BE THE ONLY THING THAT DEFNINES KONOHA FOR WHAT IT IS!" yelled the Hokage, standing up as she shouted, "Under the first four Hokage's that is all there was: war! Whether with the other villages or against a demon or even traitors from out own village. The First lead us in the second Shinobi war, the second had his war with Katte and the end of the second war, the third fought Orochimaru when he betrayed the BOTH times as well as being the war leader during the Third War, and the Fourth helped to finish that only to be killed in a fight with a demon. I don't want my reign to only be the betrayal of Sasuke Uchiha, the War with Orochimaru, and now THIS. I am becoming the Hokage with the most enemies to fight if you throw in Akatsuki and Danzou as well."

The women was panting from the rant and both of the elders faces becoming stony and set, "Very well, but we WILL talk about this issue soon enough and we will NOT send any of our troops to the Waterfall."

"And since you have brought up the topic let us talk of Akatsuki." The women met Tsunade's eyes with a dangerous glare, "It seems that you have sent one of their targets on a peacekeeping mission not only into foreign lands, but a Shinobi Village none the less."

"How this managed to escape us until now is beyond me, yet there it is. You sent a Jinchuuriki that is being hunted by a group of S-class criminals to a possibly dangerous mission where he is vulnerable."

"As well this mission… it should be at least an A-rank mission, something only Jounin would be sent to do. Yet you lowered it to a Chuunin ranked mission. We told you, the boy is not to become a Jounin, so instead you change it around so he is in the same danger as a Jounin while still being a Chuunin."

"You will see. He is more than capable of the rank of Jounin, most likely more than any of us here when we took the rank. The Counsel will see that he is able enough and they will-"

"The Counsel will do NOTHING!" spat out Hamura, a sneer growing on his face, "It was passed by both we Elders and the Counsel that he is to be a Chuunin indefinitely. It won't matter if we and the rest of the counsel are replaced by pawns who grovel at your feet. So long as Naruto Uzumaki is alive he will be a Chuunin. If I had my way then judgment would be passed to keep him a Genin or remove him as a Shinobi forever!"

"AND I TOLD YOU! If you ever try such a thing I would KILL YOU!" Tsunade had fire in her eye's and you would swear her hair was being blown in the wind, her knuckles cracked under the strength of her fist and yet both Koharu and Hamura looked indifferent to the sight.

"If you think petty little threats like that," said Koharu, standing up with Hamura, "will stay our hand from doing what is in the best interest of the Leaf then you are sadly mistaken. I do believe your outburst has given me new insight on your difficulty with Danzou. It seems that you cannot abide by a man who is not cowed by you."

As they walked out the door the elderly man continued, "Indeed, I believe that there is no longer a reason for us to watch Danzou. Indeed perhaps we might have our little conversations with you more often, say once a day rather than a weekly meeting. Goodbye Tsunade. We will tell you what we will need you to bring everyday tomorrow at three, the time is undisputable, unlike today."

Tsunade's rage was not gone, simply hidden under layers of fear, sadness, and self loathing. As soon as the door clicked shut Tsunade sat back in one of the chairs in the room and started to cry.

-----

He was crying… any man under the same duress as he would. Orochimaru had made him fight another man today. But as he struck the killing blow he came back to himself and it was truly he who had his hand plunged into the mans stomach, holding a bunch of his insides. But that didn't kill the man, no it took a while longer before the man stopped screaming and the blood loss killed him. All he could do was stand there, he didn't have enough movement left in him to remove his own hand. He shook and cried, and he thought he might have vomit on his chest, he didn't dare open his eyes to look though, he would see the hand he had used to kill the man.

"God damn you! GOD DAMMIT I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU JUUGO! WHY!? WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!!"

"Quiet in there, your loud enough to wake the dead and all the rest of the inmates."

This was Juugo. He didn't want to kill. He came here so he wouldn't need to kill. Yet when the urges came upon him they would not leave until some blood was shed. He could barely here the cries of the others here. Man whom Orochimaru had experimented on with his cursed blood. It had been the payment for his rehabilitation: that he would help Orochimaru with his experiment using his blood- his curse.

He had no choice really, if he had said no then he might be dead right now, his body taken apart so Orochimaru could have a more complete study of the phenomenon that he was. But this way Orochimaru could experiment and have a limitless amount of material to work with.

He was so caught in his grief that he did not hear the sounds of the door being unlocked until the sound of the huge metal door scrapping across the stone floor was heard.

"What do you want, I will not fight again today, not while that beast is in its cage."

"Now, now Juugo," came the slimy voice of Orochimaru, "I didn't plan for that to happen. But I am _terribly_ sorry." The man came over and wiped the blood that was still wet on his arm, "I thought I might make it up to you. I have found something incredible recently, a way to suppress my inmates curse seals!"

Juugo looked up at the man, having gotten over the shock that he now looked like Sasuke Uchiha rather than the man who had taken him in the day before, a look of supreme joy. He did not know however that the snake had possessed this for some time, nearly a year after he had come to Orochimaru it was developed. It was not widely known however as the only person it had ever been used on was Kimimaro after he first received the mark and a few others to make sure it worked over the different types of seal. Usually The Otokage would pit those who transformed against other experiments just to see which was the strongest.

"You-you found a cure?!?" the man was standing now, looking like he could hug the vile man that stood before him.

"Yes, it is a simple shot, take it and the curse seal will be suppressed for twenty-four hours… But there are a few things, I do not know how long it will work on you," _'or that it will work at all. Fufufufu.'_

"I don't care, I'll take anything I can get!" after today he would except help from the devil itself… there seemed to be an irony in that for this man.

"Very well. I have also been able to create a pill, one that can activate your seal."

Juugo looked at the man in awe and fear, "WHY!? Why would you create something like that!"

"For several reasons, to help me observe an experiment while they are transformed, to see if a seal failed or they simply won't change. But also because I have a proposition for you, one that you might need them for. I wish you to come with me, come join a small group I am starting. Before I came here I was in the East base where I was able to recruit Suigetsu. All he wanted was a silly sword which we shall get for him in due time." In truth the watery maniac wanted to go then, saying he knew where the one he wanted was, that the Uchiha had known where Zabuza Momochi died, but Orochimaru did not want to wait until he could travel there and back north to recruit Juugo. Orochimaru knew where it was too, he had gotten many a tale from Sasuke both before and after he had been absorbed whether it be about the Wave Country, the Waterfall and their now depleted 'Hero's Water,' or simply the tales of team seven. Sasuke had seemed to enjoy torturing Orochimaru with stories of them after he had entered the Snake Sannin's mind.

"But right now I want to finish gathering our group, our team. Even Karin will be coming. Fufufu, though I guess that's to be expected after what she and Sasuke went through. But if you come then my search will be over. With these pills you can induce the enzymes of your body when you want. With the shots and these pills you have complete control, and think of how great you could be."

Juugo had a choice to make, _'A CURE! Finally! But… would I truly be able to do as he asks, follow this man? But… he's the one with the cure and I have no way of producing it.'_ "I'll come with you, but I want one of these shots now." The sannin's grin grew as he reached into his poach where a normal person might keep kunai. The needle was and inch long with the syringe filled with a purple mixture that would target any offending enzymes in the body. Taking the shot, Juugo could practically feel his sanity return, _'A cure!'_ "So what is the purpose of this new team anyway."

"We're hunting down the Akatsuki, a former syndicate I was a part of. Sasuke Uchiha's brother, Itachi, was a part of the group before his death, but without Itachi I am more than capable of challenging it members. Come, you can become acquainted with your new teammates."

Soon enough there they all stood, Karin who was berating her watery teammate, Suigetsu who was chugging down water as he always did, Juugo who had a new confidence in himself and Orochimaru who had given him the cure and pills, Kabuto who was checking up on some files for the inmates, and lastly Orochimaru himself wearing the body of Sasuke Uchiha.

'_So you gathered them all, huh? So these are your most powerful experiments. But they are nothing next to you… right? But will they be enough, perhaps you should do more? You have your army stocking up, growing, so make a move!'_

Orochimaru listened to the boy, he had seemed so much calmer now than he had before, so… persuasive, _'I could attack the Leaf… yes I could crush them!'_

'_But what if they are too strong for now? And with the news of your power growing again they might start to build up their defenses again. But there are lots of resources to the west! If you took over the Land of the Sea you could cut off a lot of their economy and gain plenty of resources for the Sound. You could offer good trade to any country who would ally themselves with you and be in an optimal position to attack the Waterfall should you choose to.'_

'_Yes, it all, makes sense. With the betrayal of the Grass already I could attack the Waterfall nearly unhindered, strike a deal with the Rock and the Grass and any other countries to help break up the alliance. Instead of creating war among the Nations I would have control over them.' _And slowly the Uchiha placed his plan into motion. Revenge would be given to all of them: the Leaf who killed his brother before he could, the Akatsuki who hid him from them and would steal his revenge over Naruto, and lastly the Sound who, by serving Orochimaru, had slighted his honor, his power, and his revenge.

-----

And so the Uchiha placed his plans into motion. Itachi was disgusted at how his plan had been turning, but he would soon end it all and take the last two Jinchuuriki. He had been busy for many months now, doing the despicable work that needed to be done: money gathering.

They could attack Konoha, but they would lose too much of their standing army, even the eight of them who were the generals and heads of the Akatsuki under the Leader, even they too were vulnerable to the Leaf in such an attack. So instead he was here, extorting money from some business man in the Mist Village, "We told you before: give us what we want or you will suffer."

"Kill me then, I won't hand over a single penny! Kill me and find out what I have in store for you! I have a device attached to me that will blow up every single one of my base's as soon as my heart stops. You kill me and your going up in flagggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Listen!" said the shark like Kisami, his sword having gone blunt so he could choke the man with it, "We don't need to kill you to make you suffer! Your mother, father, brother, wife, children… Oh wait, you killed them already, seems like you have a lot in common with Itachi here. The only difference really is that he did it all himself. Now there was a family member who did live… that sweet little sister of yours. She's only twelve isn't she? Well I guess I can go for the young ones…" the creature that was Kisami letting the mans imagination run wild.

"No! Not my baby sis! You touch a single hair on her head and IAAAAHHH… I'll pay you anything you want, I'll give you everything… just… leave her alone."

It disgusted Itachi, that they needed to steal money like this, that Kisami might have gone through with his threat, that they were making no progress towards their goal.

"Come on Kisami, he has the account number to place the money in. I want to get out of this foul smelling country."

"Hey, that's my home where talking about here."

"It smells like fish! Now hurry up. The Leader is going to call us soon so I want to be someplace with a little less blood on the walls." And they left the small manor they had to kill their way into heading for a small cave on the coast. Sitting there they were 'called' by the leader of the Akatsuki. To a place of dreams.

-----

In this place they were nothing more than shadows, standing on the hands of a giant statue, a blind fold on its face and nine eyes upon the cloth, seven open and two closed.

Though there were ten fingers only nine would be occupied and only eight would be today. "So where's the crone, yeah"

"Off playing leader in one of those little villages, no doubt trying to see if there are any toys there that can be used."

"I would rather be there that out collecting money, all Kakuzu does is drag me around to hit bounties. He even wants to sneak into the Leaf so he can dig up some Shinobi we killed awhile back. He still bitches on how much that one was worth."

"Hey I don't see you thinking of anything new… but then you would have to think for yourself rather than that Sadistic god you seem to want to fuck-"

"HOW DARE YOU! You would desecrate my god and my honor in such a way?"

"**Enough bickering! I called you all here to here your progress."** Said the Leader.

"What's the difference, yeah?"

"I must agree with… him." This one coming from Itachi.

"Hey fuck you, yeah! You know I'm a dude, you were the one who found me."

"I must agree with him none the less. We are doing nothing!"

"**All things come in time. We will let the war start. When that happens the Leaf will spread its forces thin and out of fear of it getting loose will hold its precious Naruto all the tighter. When that happens we will have the perfect chance. Especially since they have gathered the five-tails for us as well. When I give the word you shall all go to the Leaf and bring them to my prison. And only then shall you all receive your reward: POWER UNIMAGINABLE! When we have them all I shall be free and have total dominion over the nine Buuji. And then you, my descendent, will stand as my right hand. And one of you will be at my left, the one who shows the most loyalty and usefulness. Now you know what to wait for, go and raise money to keep an army. For one day we will, with both my power over the Buuji and an army consisting of all villages and all shinobi everywhere, rule this world!" **

"Yes my leader!" called Tobi as he faded away

"Yes my leader!" said Hidan, clutching his scythe as he faded from existence

"Yes my leader!" pronounced the deadly Kakuzu

"Yes my leader, yeah!" said Deidera, earning a glare from Itachi

"Yes my leader!" said the flytrap like Zetsu

"Yes my leader!" said the vile Kisami

"Yes my leader!" proclaimed the red eyed Uchiha

-----

"Yes Lord Madara!" replaid the Uchiha as he plotted for the day Madara said would come.

-----

And all around the world the pieces fell into place and destiny was lost to the wind. For now was a time where fate was pulled into a whirlpool of chaos.


	6. Chapter 6 Goodbye Forever!

Dear Readers,

I am afraid that this is goodbye, I will no longer be able to continue this story due to circumpstances out of my control. I would like to ask your forgivness first and foremost for this as well as my poor writing as of late. I would like to, however, offer to any who believe that they may write this story to its proper conclusion a chance to carry on the writing. Contact my at my email- - and we will work something out, as I will NOT hand this story over until a few things are made clear. As well I am willing to part with a few characters I have designed for another Naruto fic if anyone would like to take them and the person who takes this story does not wish to use them as intended.

Thank you and goodbye,

CRKII


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